Deepening into experiencing or the secret to success in therapy

I will begin with a little overview of the research that lead to Focusing. Afterwards I will shortly describe the process itself. This is based on an article by Gendlin, (1969).

 

The aim of the series of research was to investigate what makes a successful psychotherapy. Researchers (van der Veen, Stoler, Tomlison, Hart, Rogers, Gendlin) were analyzing therapy tape recordings with an attempt to find the common theme amongst those that were classified as successful based on fulfilling all three of the conditions: client’s feedback, therapist’s feedback and psychometric scale scores. Eventually this lead to introduction of focusing. Initially, the analysis suggested that the success in therapy correlates with experiential level. This was measured based on something called “Experiencing Scale” which had seven scores and each of those had specific descriptions of what the rater (mostly undergraduate students) had to hear in order to score the given bit of tape in any of the seven scores. As a result, it was concluded that a common theme for unsuccessful therapy encounters was a low experiential level while for successful therapy could be predicted based on high experiential level. Furthermore, the researchers set out to define such verbal behavior when the client uses fresh currently occurring experiential process as basis for what is being said. This means speaking from the experience, the process of moving from one thing said to the next, from one thought to another while referring to the immediate felt experience. This is quite different from speaking about an experience, merely intellectualizing, moving from concept to concept or reporting emotions or situations.

Even before this research, therapists had known that merely intellectualizing and reporting predicts failure in the therapeutic process of change while “working through” is what generally brings success. However, what exactly this “working through” is had not been defined before. This is where Focusing was introduced. Furthermore, the research was conducted to investigate the effects of focusing instructions on the level of experiencing which, as already established, was considered an indicator of success in therapy.

In addition, the research in question found that throughout the tapes the experiential level for a single client did not change noticeably. The researchers could predict the outcome of the therapy by listening to a tape from the beginning, middle or the end of the therapeutic process. If the experiential level was low at the beginning of the therapy, it usually did not increase over time. This meant that the therapists had not been effective with the patient that did not arrive with a high experiential level. Most of these therapists had been trained with an assumption that it is impossible to teach a client how to do therapy. This was the gap that focusing as a teachable skill was there to fill. Focusing is not a scale like the experiential level. It is direct and abrupt turn from talking and thinking to a felt body version of the problem.

Below there are instructions to the focusing practice as offered in the research cited. Since then the practice of focusing has evolved and I would use a slightly different approach when teaching it. There are books available about focusing and each of those have a slightly different way of describing and leaning into it. However, I believe that you will be able to sense the gist of it. I feel that this is a shortened and simplified version, probably, due to the process of research, but it should give you a sufficient taste of the nature of it.

 

 

 

“FOCUSING MANUAL:

30 seconds:

This is going to be just to yourself. What I will ask you to do will be silent, just to yourself. Take a moment just to relax. All right— now, just to yourself, inside you, I would like you to pay attention to a very special part of you. Pay attention to that Part where you usually feel sad glad or scared. 5 seconds. Pay attention to that area in you and see how you are now. See what comes to you when you ask yourself, “How am I now?” “How do I feel?” “what is the main thing for me right now?” Let it come, in whatever way it comes to you, and see how it is.

10 Seconds:

If, among the things that you have just thought of, there was a major personal problem which felt important, continue with it. Otherwise, select a meaningful personal problem to think about. Make sure you have chosen some personal problem of real importance in your life. Choose the thing which seems most meaningful to you.

30 seconds:

  1. Of course, there are many parts to that one thing you are thinking about—too many to think of each one alone. But, you can feel all of these things together. Pay attention there where you usually feel things, and in there you can get a sense of what all of the problem feels like. Let yourself feel all of that. 30 seconds or less

1 minute:

  1. As you pay attention to the whole feeling of it, you may find that one special feeling comes up. Let yourself pay attention to that one feeling.

 

1 minute:

  1. Keep following one feeling. Don’t let it be just words or pictures – wait and let words or pictures come from the feeling.

1 minute:

  1. If this one feeling changes, or moves, let it do that. Whatever it does, follow the feeling and pay attention to it.

 

1 minute:

  1. Now, tale what is fresh, or new, in the feel of it now… and go very easy. Just as you feel it, try to find some new words or pictures to capture what your present feeling is all about. There doesn’t have to be anything that you didn’t know before. New words are best, but old words might fit just as well. As long as you now find words or pictures to say what is fresh to you now.

 

1 minute:

  1. If the words or pictures that you now have make sore fresh difference, see what that is. Let the words or pictures change until they feel just right in capturing your feelings.

 

1 minute:

Now I will give you a little while to use in any way you want to, and then we will stop. “

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gendlin, E. T. (1969). Focusing. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 6(1), 4–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088716

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