Back in the 1970s, Dr. Gendlin identified why psychotherapy worked for some clients, and not for others. It wasn't so much the therapy itself, but the therapy client's natural ability or lack of ability to tap into his or her own internal processes, including honoring feelings and tuning into the body and mind.
This week, I'd like to explain the basic idea behind Gendlin's Focusing technique, which is designed to help you go past the usual emotional and mental processing of issues, and get you to what's beneath all that, for this is where healing shifts can occur. If you compare this concept to our physical health, it is the difference between taking drugs to alleviate symptoms, and the body actually healing on a deeper level.
The fundamental idea in Focusing, is that each emotional issue has a "felt sense" at its core. The thoughts and feelings we can identify and label (fear, anxiety, anger, envy, sadness, etc) are not the felt sense, but what sits on top of, and in some ways masks it. When we tap into this felt sense (in the body or body-mind), a natural shift occurs that helps us not only understand the issue at it's core, but more importantly, helps us release the physical and psychological stress associated with keeping that energy out of our conscious awareness.
So, we can learn to tap into the felt sense, and thus bring about this bodily shift. But what does that mean, exactly? Gendlin helps us understand this with the following simple example.
Let's say you're going on a plane trip to visit your parents and, as you take your seat, you have the uncomfortable feeling that you forgot to pack something important. You rack you brain trying to think of what it could be, but no answer comes to you. Maybe you deal with this discomfort by telling yourself that whatever you need, you can buy at your destination. But you are still troubled. The answer to your question is just below the surface of awareness, and finally something "clicks" and you remember what you left behind. It was the package of photographs you promised to bring your mother. Even though there's nothing you can do now to retrieve the photographs, on a psychological as well as physical level you feel relieved. Now, you can rest.
I think everyone can relate to this scenario. When something matters to us but is hidden from our conscious awareness, it creates internal stress---it bugs us---and no amount of cajoling or denying will erase that feeling. In this example, the shift occurred automatically, but just as often we go years without ever getting in touch with or shifting what is bugging us, and this can wreak havoc on our psyches and our lives.
I had intended to lay out Gendlin's 6-part focusing technique for you this week, but I felt the above background info was critical in understanding and applying the process. So next week, I promise to walk you through the steps.
But this week, you can get started. When you feel bugged about something, try this exercise: close your eyes, relax, and see if you can feel a sense of the issue or emotion somewhere in you body. Perhaps a tightness in your chest or throat, or a lump in your stomach. Just notice it, nothing more. Maybe take a few deep breaths. Next week, we'll talk about where to go from there. Until then...
