Interactive Focusing is a form of Focusing that was developed by Janet Klein (d. 2010) with the help of Mary McGuire. IF has been described as a ‘third stage’ of Focusing, beginning with Focusing alone, then Focusing in partnerships and now Interactive Focusing.

Janet developed Interactive Focusing while working on a PhD in Psychology. For her thesis she focussed on Focusing partnerships.
She observed and interviewed Focusers who had long-term, ongoing Focusing partnerships. For their exchange, she asked the partners to Focus with ‘what their partnership and their partner meant to them. She discovered that these Focusers hadn’t ever articulated what this meant to them before. In addition, she realised that Focusing partnerships were, in fact, interactive even though “there was a strict prohibition against touching the material of your partner”.
She describes it this way, “The partnership was set up on the lines of a transaction, two equal but separate pieces. The listener was to clear the space of her own issues in order to make room to listen to the Focuser. When they exchanged roles, the second Focuser wasn’t to touch on the material of the first Focuser. It became apparent to me, however, that there was a subterranean interaction, though it never had a chance to surface due to the prohibition. I wanted to frontally address this unspoken aspect.”

As a result of her findings, she created a structure, Interactive Focusing, (IF) that would allow for interaction while ‘preserving each person’s material and boundaries’. Following this kind of interactive process would allow the partners to safely process their relationship, if they wanted. Barbara Dickinson describes it thus, “A regular practice of IF creates a sort of “space” between two people where they can bring their individual issues as well as issues that affect both people in the relationship.”

There are several stages to a full IF process. The following is but a very brief description. See below for further reading/resources.

An IF session begins in a similar way to a usual Focusing session; one person Focuses first for the agreed time while the other person listens/reflects. Then, in a departure from most Focuser’s experience, at the end of that part the listener offers an empathic response to the Focuser, usually in the form of a symbol. The Focuser responds to this. This form of Focusing requires that the Focuser say enough during their time so that the listener can actually respond. (In my experience, more and more long-term Focusing partners are bringing this element into their Focusing exchanges.)

Then it is the turn of the second Focuser, who begins by checking inside to see what has touched them from the session so far. They then continue in the usual way to explore their experiencing while the second listener listens/reflects. At the end of that, the second listener offers an empathic response and the Focuser responds.

After the above and to close the session, both partners in turn now have a ‘relationship check’. Each partner addresses the following questions or similar in a Focusing way; “How am I with myself?” and “How am I with my partner?” while their partner listens/reflects.

As well as helping to deepen the relationship between Focusers, particularly those who know each other well, Interactive Focusing process can be used for dealing safely and effectively with conflicts and for healing troubled areas in relationships.

If you would like to explore this form of Focusing further you can check out the websites below. The book on the method is available from TIFI bookstore and Nada Lou has a video of Janet and Mary Maguire explaining, explicating and demonstrating the process. If you would be interested in an introductory, day-long, in-person workshop to experience this method please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Further Reading and Resources
https://focusing.org/more/dr-janet-klein
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOfIpVpY1Ek&ab_channel=LynnPrestonFocusingRelationalPsychotherapy
https://focusinginternational.org/resources/interactive-focusing/
https://learnfocusing.org/en-gb/pages/interactive-focusing-resources?_pos=1&_sid=69ae60f9f&_ss=r
https://www.cefocusing.com/wordpress/interpersonal-focusing-kleins-interactive-focusing-protocol/