by Tom Larkin

From the west, north, east and south of Europe 30+ Focusers gathered in Humboldt-Haus, Achberg for the annual European Focusing Association gathering. This year the theme was “Surfing the waves of life; sensing and thinking freshly”. There were participants from eleven [European] countries with English as the agreed, ‘common’ language.

Humboldt Haus is situated in the heart of the German countryside from where could be seen green fields and forests all the way to the Alps. Many German Focusers consider Humboldt-Haus as the ‘home’ of German Focusing because this is where Focusing really took off in Germany 30 years ago and where Eugene Gendlin gave several workshops - a portrait of him hung on the wall of the meeting hall during the event.

Fiona Parr (UK) initiated the proceedings, describing the EFA as more of an “associating” than an association; there is a steering committee, but it doesn’t have office holders, doesn’t have a bank account etc – a grass-roots group.

While there was a loose structure to the schedule, space was made for daily Focusing exchanges, open spaces, home groups and ‘personal’ spaces in the afternoons. The evenings were for dancing, singing, talking, or whatever. Outside of these there was no prearranged programme for how we would spend the time together. Towards this end, time was provided for whatever participants wanted to bring to the gathering - at the first whole group meeting on Thursday, there was space for participants to offer “happenings” i.e. workshops, roundtables, presentations etc. and, after some haggling and jostling for particular times or rooms (done in a Focusing way of course), the timetable quickly formed around these offerings. For every space in the schedule for Happenings there were between three and five choices of topic.

Topics included:

• Focusing with Images
• Focusing research
• ‘No content’ Focusing
• Felt sense dialogue around climate change using Appreciative Inquiry and Dynamic Facilitation.
• Smartphones and Focusing
• Spiritual bypassing and Focusing
• Focusing and ‘hidden’ Illness/condition
• Reading the last chapter of Focusing: ‘Experience beyond Roles’
• One’s own experiencing of the climate crisis
• Dreams
• Focusing window for Ukraine
• CAS + TAE + Drawing
• Etc.

As always in these situations I found myself wanting to be in at least two places at the same time! I usually come away from Focusing events feeling enriched, my understanding of Focusing deepened and my skills enhanced, and this gathering was no exception. When I consider the question of what my highlight was though I’d have to say it was meeting with, and making heart-felt, in-person connections, with others who have a deep-seated interest in and commitment to Focusing. There was so much richness, not alone in the more formal spaces but in the sharing and discussing over meals or on walks around the beautiful surrounding area.

As my network of connections grew, the world became a (relatively) smaller place for me over the course of the gathering and since.

For your diary - the next EFA gatherings:
2025 Belgium 17 – 21 Sept
2026 Scotland 23 – 27 Sept
More information about the EFA, the subgroups and about how to become a member etc at
https://efa-focusing.eu/