by Clare Myatt
If you’re reading IFN’s wonderful newsletter, you’re probably already a devotee (is that the right word?) of focusing. I most definitely am a devotee (it’s the right word for me). To say it has been transformational in my life sounds rather grandiose, but that’s the truth of it.
From the first training with Jerry Conway many years ago, to the latest seminar given by Ann Weiser Cornell at the Somatic Approaches in Therapy Summit [April 2025], my life is pervaded by Eugene Gendlin’s seminal philosophy. It’s a bit like the red mini effect - that tendency to see a red mini then see almost nothing but red minis thereafter. Apparently, this is the frequency illusion, more accurately described as the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon.
I recently attended one of Dr. Jim Feil’s online workshops on the topic of entanglements and getting oneself disentangled. The step from entangled to disentangled involves - you’ve guessed - pausing, taking a step back, finding exactly the right distance to be with entanglement. Hm, I thought, focusing.
I also attended one of Dr. Richard Schwartz’s online workshops on Internal Family Systems. He provided a demonstration with someone working with the part of her that says yes too quickly. In the process of the demo she identified another part which is annoyed because it would prefer to have time for more fun. Then she spent time holding both until such time as they were willing to talk to one another. Sound familiar? Looks like focusing to me.
The essence of focusing appears in poetry as well and thanks to IFN’s Marie McGuigan, I’ve found Julia Fehrenbacher’s poem The Most Important Thing. I think she’s captured the essence of focusing, as did Rumi in The Guesthouse, and John O’Donohue in For a New Beginning.
As I wrap up this review of the red mini effect, I’d like to share four words with you: “sneaky wee” and “sneaky pooh.” They do make me smile. Michael White was an Australian therapist working with children who wet and soiled the bed, and he created something called narrative therapy. His approach sought to externalise the problem - instead of the child being the problem, the problem was the problem. What a difference that made! It reminds me of Gendlin’s making space between the self and the problem:
“You welcome anything that comes…but you stay a little distance from it. You’re not in it, but next to it…you are neither running away or going into it…you sense there is space between it (felt sense) and you. You are here and it is there. You have it, you are not it.” [emphasis added]
I feel so blessed to have the red mini effect of Gendlin’s philosophy in my life. Everywhere I look, there he and his wisdom prevail. I also appreciate being part of the Irish Focusing Network - a beautiful and supportive community of like-minded folk - thank you.
BIO
Clare Myatt, LL.B., M.A., is an experienced practitioner using the lens of somatics/embodiment to inform her integrative coach-therapy. She was certified as a Focusing Practitioner in 2018, in Focusing Oriented Therapy in 2023 and published her first book in 2019 Love & Imperfection: A Therapist’s Story.
www.claremyatt.co.uk
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