This is a handout from a presentation at the International Focusing Conference in France in 2022.... more This is a handout from a presentation at the International Focusing Conference in France in 2022. It contains the salient points and references concerning the essential Focusing qualities of EMDR and a composite case study when this is used to work with victims of sexualised violence.
Focusing-oriented therapy shows a great sensitivity towards a client’s felt sense and the need to... more Focusing-oriented therapy shows a great sensitivity towards a client’s felt sense and the need to be with that ‘something ’ in a special way. Yet where the therapeutic relationship fits in, so important in other therapies, is far less clear. Sometimes it seems as if focusing is merely a subjective process that could be done just as well alone. I disagree. Using Gendlin’s concept of ‘interaffecting first ’ I am developing a focusing-oriented practice where the therapeutic relationship has a pivotal place. I work with ‘addicts ’ and ‘substance misusers’, people who seem to absent themselves in so many ways. A strong ‘being-with’, an intersubjective felt sense, seems just the right way to address their ‘being-without’. This session builds on a presentation made in Awaji in 2009. Alan Tidmarsh is a focusing-oriented therapist in Norwich, UK, working with substance abusers. He is studying for a PhD on focusing-oriented therapy and ‘addiction’. 1.
This study aims to provide the first systematic explication of focusing-oriented therapy for clie... more This study aims to provide the first systematic explication of focusing-oriented therapy for clients with addiction. It begins with basic principles from the Philosophy of the Implicit – experience, interaction, focaling and carrying forward - outlining their significance in psychopathology and therapy. General focusingoriented therapy is examined in terms of five client tasks and four therapist responses. A focusing-oriented view of addiction is then developed in terms of phenomena that, socially and personally, deal with unacceptable experience through ‘process-skipping, ‘flailing’ and the use of a ‘carapace.’ Three core tasks of focusing-oriented therapy for recovery are proposed. These help a client stand aside from the addictive carapace, carry forward underlying existential dilemmas and discover a new way of being-in-the-world. Five further recovery ‘avenues’ are identified using experiential aspects of mainstream treatments for addiction and experiential recovery tasks are su...
Working with clients, supervisees and myself I notice a particular quality of felt sense that can... more Working with clients, supervisees and myself I notice a particular quality of felt sense that can arrive. I have found concepts from Heidegger help me to understand it - the moment when a step beyond just being-in-the-world (Befindlichkeit) is possible/necessary, when the unpalatable must also be 'owned'-up to (Eigentlichkeit). In this paper I will invite you to sample these felt senses, to notice resonances from several contexts and to consider ways a therapist may be helpful when it is encountered.
This is as comprehensive a list of written material about Focusing and Addiction as can be compil... more This is as comprehensive a list of written material about Focusing and Addiction as can be compiled. Some references to other experiential therapies are included andthere is an appendix of some Gestalt publications that may be useful.
This is as comprehensive a list of written material about Focusing and Addiction as can be compil... more This is as comprehensive a list of written material about Focusing and Addiction as can be compiled. Some references to other experiential therapies are included and there is an appendix of some Gestalt publications that may be useful.
Having an 'addiction' is about being stuck - stuck with something you would rather be without. In... more Having an 'addiction' is about being stuck - stuck with something you would rather be without. In focusing theory it might be called a stopped process. Yet whilst there may not be a moving forward, the stuckness of the addictive gestures obscures a tremendous life and meaningful physicality. 'Addicts' are often condemned as hopeless cases, yet I want to contradict Stevie Smith and say that they are not 'drowning but waving'.
In this session I will share the latest stage of my work as a focusing-oriented therapist with drug and alcohol clients, building on presentations in Awaji and Hohenwart. I will relate my experience to the theory, but also hope to include a workshop element in the session and offer an opportunity to attend to our own 'addictive' processes, stopped or otherwise.
Focusing-oriented therapy shows a great sensitivity towards a client’s felt sense and the need to... more Focusing-oriented therapy shows a great sensitivity towards a client’s felt sense and the need to be with that ‘something’ in a special way. Yet where the therapeutic relationship fits in, so important in other therapies, is far less clear. Sometimes it seems as if focusing is merely a subjective process that could be done just as well alone.
I disagree. Using Gendlin’s concept of ‘interaffecting first’ I am developing a focusing-oriented practice where the therapeutic relationship has a pivotal place. I work with ‘addicts’ and ‘substance misusers’, people who seem to absent themselves in so many ways. A strong ‘being-with’, an intersubjective felt sense, seems just the right way to address their ‘being-without’.
This session builds on a presentation made in Awaji in 2009. Alan Tidmarsh is a focusing-oriented therapist in Norwich, UK, working with substance abusers. He is studying for a PhD on focusing-oriented therapy and ‘addiction’.
This is a handout from a presentation at the International Focusing Conference in France in 2022.... more This is a handout from a presentation at the International Focusing Conference in France in 2022. It contains the salient points and references concerning the essential Focusing qualities of EMDR and a composite case study when this is used to work with victims of sexualised violence.
Focusing-oriented therapy shows a great sensitivity towards a client’s felt sense and the need to... more Focusing-oriented therapy shows a great sensitivity towards a client’s felt sense and the need to be with that ‘something ’ in a special way. Yet where the therapeutic relationship fits in, so important in other therapies, is far less clear. Sometimes it seems as if focusing is merely a subjective process that could be done just as well alone. I disagree. Using Gendlin’s concept of ‘interaffecting first ’ I am developing a focusing-oriented practice where the therapeutic relationship has a pivotal place. I work with ‘addicts ’ and ‘substance misusers’, people who seem to absent themselves in so many ways. A strong ‘being-with’, an intersubjective felt sense, seems just the right way to address their ‘being-without’. This session builds on a presentation made in Awaji in 2009. Alan Tidmarsh is a focusing-oriented therapist in Norwich, UK, working with substance abusers. He is studying for a PhD on focusing-oriented therapy and ‘addiction’. 1.
This study aims to provide the first systematic explication of focusing-oriented therapy for clie... more This study aims to provide the first systematic explication of focusing-oriented therapy for clients with addiction. It begins with basic principles from the Philosophy of the Implicit – experience, interaction, focaling and carrying forward - outlining their significance in psychopathology and therapy. General focusingoriented therapy is examined in terms of five client tasks and four therapist responses. A focusing-oriented view of addiction is then developed in terms of phenomena that, socially and personally, deal with unacceptable experience through ‘process-skipping, ‘flailing’ and the use of a ‘carapace.’ Three core tasks of focusing-oriented therapy for recovery are proposed. These help a client stand aside from the addictive carapace, carry forward underlying existential dilemmas and discover a new way of being-in-the-world. Five further recovery ‘avenues’ are identified using experiential aspects of mainstream treatments for addiction and experiential recovery tasks are su...
Working with clients, supervisees and myself I notice a particular quality of felt sense that can... more Working with clients, supervisees and myself I notice a particular quality of felt sense that can arrive. I have found concepts from Heidegger help me to understand it - the moment when a step beyond just being-in-the-world (Befindlichkeit) is possible/necessary, when the unpalatable must also be 'owned'-up to (Eigentlichkeit). In this paper I will invite you to sample these felt senses, to notice resonances from several contexts and to consider ways a therapist may be helpful when it is encountered.
This is as comprehensive a list of written material about Focusing and Addiction as can be compil... more This is as comprehensive a list of written material about Focusing and Addiction as can be compiled. Some references to other experiential therapies are included andthere is an appendix of some Gestalt publications that may be useful.
This is as comprehensive a list of written material about Focusing and Addiction as can be compil... more This is as comprehensive a list of written material about Focusing and Addiction as can be compiled. Some references to other experiential therapies are included and there is an appendix of some Gestalt publications that may be useful.
Having an 'addiction' is about being stuck - stuck with something you would rather be without. In... more Having an 'addiction' is about being stuck - stuck with something you would rather be without. In focusing theory it might be called a stopped process. Yet whilst there may not be a moving forward, the stuckness of the addictive gestures obscures a tremendous life and meaningful physicality. 'Addicts' are often condemned as hopeless cases, yet I want to contradict Stevie Smith and say that they are not 'drowning but waving'.
In this session I will share the latest stage of my work as a focusing-oriented therapist with drug and alcohol clients, building on presentations in Awaji and Hohenwart. I will relate my experience to the theory, but also hope to include a workshop element in the session and offer an opportunity to attend to our own 'addictive' processes, stopped or otherwise.
Focusing-oriented therapy shows a great sensitivity towards a client’s felt sense and the need to... more Focusing-oriented therapy shows a great sensitivity towards a client’s felt sense and the need to be with that ‘something’ in a special way. Yet where the therapeutic relationship fits in, so important in other therapies, is far less clear. Sometimes it seems as if focusing is merely a subjective process that could be done just as well alone.
I disagree. Using Gendlin’s concept of ‘interaffecting first’ I am developing a focusing-oriented practice where the therapeutic relationship has a pivotal place. I work with ‘addicts’ and ‘substance misusers’, people who seem to absent themselves in so many ways. A strong ‘being-with’, an intersubjective felt sense, seems just the right way to address their ‘being-without’.
This session builds on a presentation made in Awaji in 2009. Alan Tidmarsh is a focusing-oriented therapist in Norwich, UK, working with substance abusers. He is studying for a PhD on focusing-oriented therapy and ‘addiction’.
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In this session I will share the latest stage of my work as a focusing-oriented therapist with drug and alcohol clients, building on presentations in Awaji and Hohenwart. I will relate my experience to the theory, but also hope to include a workshop element in the session and offer an opportunity to attend to our own 'addictive' processes, stopped or otherwise.
I disagree. Using Gendlin’s concept of ‘interaffecting first’ I am developing a focusing-oriented practice where the therapeutic relationship has a pivotal place. I work with ‘addicts’ and ‘substance misusers’, people who seem to absent themselves in so many ways. A strong ‘being-with’, an intersubjective felt sense, seems just the right way to address their ‘being-without’.
This session builds on a presentation made in Awaji in 2009. Alan Tidmarsh is a focusing-oriented therapist in Norwich, UK, working with substance abusers. He is studying for a PhD on focusing-oriented therapy and ‘addiction’.
In this session I will share the latest stage of my work as a focusing-oriented therapist with drug and alcohol clients, building on presentations in Awaji and Hohenwart. I will relate my experience to the theory, but also hope to include a workshop element in the session and offer an opportunity to attend to our own 'addictive' processes, stopped or otherwise.
I disagree. Using Gendlin’s concept of ‘interaffecting first’ I am developing a focusing-oriented practice where the therapeutic relationship has a pivotal place. I work with ‘addicts’ and ‘substance misusers’, people who seem to absent themselves in so many ways. A strong ‘being-with’, an intersubjective felt sense, seems just the right way to address their ‘being-without’.
This session builds on a presentation made in Awaji in 2009. Alan Tidmarsh is a focusing-oriented therapist in Norwich, UK, working with substance abusers. He is studying for a PhD on focusing-oriented therapy and ‘addiction’.