While I have been travelling in South America I have been able to stay connected with the Focusing community by attending the Weeklong in Chile and the International Conference in Mexico. I have also been active in two very different focusing groups. One is as a mentor on Charlotte Howorth’s new two-year online training programme. …
This February my two-year training as a Focusing-Oriented Therapist and trainer culminated in a community gathering at Punta de Tralca, Chile. This was The Focusing Institute’s first weeklong outside of the USA and witnessing the meeting of people from all of The Americas made this particularly special to me. The week was led by Jeffrey …
This lively conference of Focusing professionals from all over the Americas and a few people from Europe was a great opportunity to experience the diversity of the applications Focusing can be used for. Presentations ranged from Gendlin’s philosophy and its political implications to dreamwork, creative processes, couples therapy and Nonviolent Communication. I had an opportunity …
Yesterday we came to the end of the first online training in Focusing offered by the Focusing Institute, which builds on the work of Eugene Gendlin, philosopher and psychotherapist. “Focusing” is a process for helping your mind listen to the wisdom of your body. “What is true is already so. Owning up to it doesn’t …
At the Pearce Institute in Govan the Govan Community Project community workers help asylum seekers access basic services; health, food-banks, shelter and support them with their asylum claims and appeals. I volunteered six weekly counselling sessions for the support workers. The sessions were a space to discuss their jobs, like supervision or any aspect of …
I have been volunteering at Kingsway Health and Wellbeing Centre, Scotstoun, Glasgow for the last ten months, spending one day a week meeting with local residents. While the physical buildings have been improved this community lacks places for people to express themselves and enact the changes they would like to see. However, in this very …
Restarting the volunteer programme after the summer I held a session to help reduce the ‘burn out’ experienced by community volunteers at Maryhill Integration Network (MIN). The workshop aimed to help them to understand the everyday effects of trauma on themselves and clients. Volunteers reported being sometimes caught-up in the difficulties experienced by the asylum …
It is now one year since I began the full-time MSc in Person-centred Counselling and Psychotherapy with professor Robert Elliott and the team at Strathclyde University, Glasgow. This is the first time a one-year British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) approved course and has been a busy year for us all. During this programme, …
Maryhill Integration Network (MIN) exists to bring communities in Glasgow together. I have been offering weekly counselling sessions as part of my MSc in Person-centred counselling and psychotherapy to volunteers and asylum seekers. MIN aims to help people newly arrived in Glasgow by offering practical and social support to all. People who have benefitted from …
