Hildegard of Bingen said learn how to be a friend to your Soul. And Focusing does just that - but in a countercultural way. The self-help industry and many spiritual disciplines have all sorts of programs and principles to employ to improve some aspect of a stuck place in your life. But this process, is about Being With and Radically Welcoming everything that comes. 

For example, we have often been taught that our emotions and body sensations are not essential to our humanity or spirituality. We are often told to get over a feeling or have learned to deny, suppress or even use spiritual practices to rid ourselves of our body sensations and emotions. But our emotions and body sensations are an important part of a deeper, implicit, embodied knowing. In Focusing rather than trying to overcome or pray away a feeling, we learn ways to welcome them in order to listen to the wisdom of our Bigger Story.

If you have felt stuck, and nothing else works for you or if you keep going around in circles repeating things that don’t change, then learning to P.A.U.S.E. with yourself with a Loving Caring Presence will help you get more in touch with your authentic self.

Focusing is neither of these things as primarily there isn’t an agenda or specific issue we’re trying to “solve.” It is more an invitation to learn how to be with yourself in gentle and self-compassionate ways. 

Focusing can be incorporated into almost every helping profession that seeks to offer an unhurried space for transformation. It is not so much a methodology or tool as much as it is a way of living more attentive to the present moment in order to sense what most wants to live and carry forward from within in an authentic way.

We understand, life happens. If you need to miss a Zoom class, you can catch the replay of the class online and will still be partnered with someone from the class during the week. 

In order to continue on and have continuity in this learning process we ask that you do not miss more than 2 classes and still practice partnerships. In order to be recommended for more advanced Focusing courses, you cannot miss more than 4 sessions total between Doorways 1 (10 weeks) and Doorways 2 (10 weeks). 

If you already know you'll be missing too many classes, Doorways 1 will be offered again.

If you complete both Doorways 1 and 2 (a total of 40 hours of class plus partnership practice) you will obtain the Proficient Focusing Partner status offered by The International Focusing Institute (TIFI) Once you've completed that you can go on to do other more advanced Focusing training like becoming a Focusing Oriented Spiritual Director, A year of Getting Free with my mentor Ann Weiser Cornell and so many other opportunities. 

I am also happy to provide a certificate of completion for you finishing each level. 

This course will be helpful to anyone who is spiritually minded. Because I am beloved by God and come from a Christian tradition, I will incorporate some Biblical Imagery and Jesus stories to help invite you to open and attend to your soul in a deeper way.

You need not, however, to ascribe to a Christian faith - but it will likely be helpful if you ascribe to a Higher Power and/or just desire a more Loving Presence in this world.

You don't have to be.

 If you have a sense of “Something More” - like a Higher Power - or as Paul Tillich penned: “The Ground of All Being” or as Bonaventure described God as “The One whose center is everywhere but circumference is nowhere,” that is helpful. 

Some of the people who need this course the most are people who are religious but who have never learned to let God love them or to love themselves with the same compassion they are asked to love others. 

In addition, so many of us have come from religious backgrounds that have taught us to deny our body and emotions: We've been told that our emotions aren't reliable and our bodies are usually only spoken of as problems to be solved. 

If that is you, you'll be grateful to hear that God (or Love or the Divine) wired our biology and emotions to help us. 

Unfortunately, I cannot offer state CEs at present for therapists. I will be working to partner with an accrediting institution that will give you up to 20 CEs for Doorways 1 and 20 for Doorways 2.

Some pastors and chaplains will likely be able to claim completion of this course for CEs within your own parameters.

There are 

Naturally you can spend more time or adjust it to your schedule. Plus, the material will always be here for you to revisit and/or dig deeper if you'd like.

I know these are tough times and I know this can be a steep price for some. If this feels too much to pay - let's have a conversation. Feel free to email me - and let me know a bit more about your situation. Some scholarships or alternative payment plans might be available.