Focusing Training

What sets our training apart?
Are you looking for a course that is hands-on and gives you the direct experience of a new method so you can leave feeling ready to try it in your practice? All of the focusing courses listed below are conducted in small groups, and provide meaningful, supervised experience and practice. A variety of current methods of focusing are presented so you can develop a style that fits best for you and your practice.

The courses are open to all practitioners and students in the mental health professions. Those interested in becoming certified focusing-oriented therapists need to take all of the courses (or equivalent). For those who want to learn more about particular topics, you are welcome to sign up for specifically those that interest you. You must take the Introduction to Focusing or equivalent before enrolling in any of the advanced courses.

Who should attend

This program is aimed at psychotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and other practitioners and students in the mental health professions who want to bring a body-based, experiential focus to their psychotherapy practice. Both new and continuing students of focusing-oriented therapy are welcome. The courses lead to certification with The Focusing Institute, an international organization based in New York (www.focusing.org), although you can attend specific courses of interest even if certification is not your ultimate goal.

About focusing-oriented therapy

Why doesn’t psychotherapy succeed more often? And when it does, what is it that sets that therapy apart? Focusing was developed by Eugene Gendlin in response to these questions. What Gendlin found was that the clients who naturally sensed inside in a particular way got the most from therapy. Focusing was developed as a methodical way to teach this inner sensing, and it can help your clients get the most from their therapy with you.

Focusing can be applied to virtually any methodology to deepen and enrich the process, and research has shown it to lead to better therapy outcomes and increased session effectiveness. It has been found to be helpful in working safely with trauma and PTSD,  depression, anxiety, grief, body image issues and to enhance self awareness, self esteem and creativity.

Finding the Way In: Introduction to Focusing Oriented Therapy – Next intro: October 20-21, 2012

Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy is one of the most effective and respectful ways to bring your clients into their felt experience and their bodies. It begins with mindfulness, but takes it several steps further, facilitating right brain communication and providing practical techniques that are supported by the latest research in the neurobiology of emotion and attachment.

You will leave this workshop ready to try using focusing in your therapy practice. The course provides an overview of focusing methods, including Eugene Gendlin’s ‘discovery’ of focusing and a walk through the focusing steps, as well as an overview of how current focusing experts have adapted these methods. There will be lots of experiential practice focusing and leading sessions. Instructors: Leslie Ellis and Shaun Phillips.

 

Course Dates for Spring/Summer 2012 (scroll down for more detailed course descriptions)

June 2/3 Focusing-oriented dream work   Register

June 16, 2012 Focusing practice and supervision session, plus: Working with the inner critic   Register

July 22, 2012 Focusing and Affective Neuroscience.   To register please contact Judy Lyon at jplyon@shaw.ca or 778-395-2244

 

Tentative schedule for the 2012/2013 Certification Program

Intro to FOT Oct. 20-21, 2012

Trauma 1 Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2012

Trauma 2 Jan 26-27, 2013

Intermediate FOT March 2-3, 2013

Imaginal focusing/dreams April 20-21, 2013

Addiction, disordered eating June 1-2, 2013

Focusing, attachment and neuroscience  July 13-14, 2013

Advanced FOT Sept. 14-15, 2013

 

Detailed Course Descriptions

Focusing and Trauma I: Working safely with embodied trauma memory

In this course, you will learn how to begin to notice, unearth and safely work with traumatic memories stored in the body. For many who have suffered from trauma, especially very early in life, the key to healing is through the somatic messages the body sends, if one knows how to listen. This course will look at nature of trauma memory to gain an understanding of how these memories are stored and why a mind-body approach is called for. There will be discussion of the current trend towards body-oriented therapies to treat trauma, and details about how focusing-oriented therapy fits into the clinical picture. Practical safety techniques, including how to close sessions safely and stay within the therapeutic window will be introduced, and there will be experiential and hands-on practice.

Focusing and Trauma II: Intergenerational and Vicarious Trauma

This course will review the basics of trauma treatment and then focus on inter-generational trauma. It will provide a deep understanding of how trauma gets passed down through families and the ways this can show up in a focusing session. Participants will learn to listen to the bodies of their clients for things that they may not be saying out loud. They will learn to work with implicit memories, silent states and places of trauma that occurred very early in life. There will also be a discussion of vicarious trauma for therapists, and self-protection and self-care.

Deepening your Practice of Focusing-Oriented Therapy: one-day sessions:

June 16, 2012

The June 16 practice session will focus on: How to work with the inner critic. This popular topic will provide participants with strategies and experiential practice working with the inner critical voice that our clients often encounter when they turn their attention inward. You will learn when engaging the inner critic is indicated, and when it is not, and also how to proceed with either scenario.

Cost for all one-day workshops is $150 plus HST ($168). The workshop location will be 410-221 West Esplanade, North Vancouver, and runs from 9:30 to 3:30. (There is an option to attend the morning only if you have already taken the inner critic workshop.) Register

Focusing is a powerful therapeutic technique which is at once simple and complex, and can take years of practice to fully master. Supervised group practice sessions are designed to help FOT students to move forward in their practice of focusing efficiently and effectively. Join us to explore asking more deeply, and practice your focusing skills.

The practice sessions are open to anyone who has taken the Introduction to FOT or equivalent, and will appeal to both beginning and experienced focusers. The sessions run from 9:30 to 3:30 and will begin with focusing practice in dyads or small groups. In the afternoon, we will discuss questions that came up during the sessions, or in participants’ work with their clients. There will also be a brief lecture on a particular focusing-oriented topic — the choice of topics will be guided by the needs and desires of the group.

Focusing-oriented therapy and experiential dream work:  June 2/3, 2012

This course combines the power of focusing-oriented therapy with experiential dream work techniques to deepen and accelerate the process of therapy. Research has shown that working with dreams increases client commitment to the therapy but that most therapists are not comfortable or well versed in dream work. Yet working with dreams can be effective and fascinating, and although it requires some training, dream work not as complex and demanding as you may think.

In this workshop, participants will both experience and learn how the body can be a doorway to the imagination, a key to exploring dreams in a safe, effective way. Leslie Ellis will present current research into the therapeutic use of dreams, and present strategies and approaches to dream that are body-oriented, client-centred and require experience but no complex theoretical knowledge. Much of the learning will by practice and observation, and participants will leave with a greater appreciation for the wisdom of dreams and how to work with them.

Location: 410-221 West Esplanade, North Vancouver (2 blocks from Seabus terminal)

Click the link to register.

Supervision for Advanced FOT candidates (by invitation)

Those pursuing FOT certification with the international Focusing Institute must log 50 supervision hours, but there is an opportunity to do so efficiently and affordably in our supervision group. (All of the regular coursework also has a supervision component, so by the time you have taken all the courses, you will have logged about half your supervision hours. You can ask us for details on how to log hours.)

Supervision dates for Spring 2012:  Mar. 31 and June 16,  9:30 to 12:30, $60 per session. (June 16 supervision will be combined with focusing practice session, and participants have the option to stay for the afternoon workshop on working with the inner critic.)

 

In a special one-day workshop on Focusing and Affective Neuroscience

 Sunday July 22, 2012, Leslie Ellis will:

- provide an overview of current affective neuroscience research with an emphasis on how it  supports the use of focusing-oriented therapy.

- explain how some aspects of interpersonal neurobiology provide evidence about why focusing works

- include relevant ideas from Eugene Gendlin’s philosophy

- ground these ideas with clinical examples

- provide experiential learning wherever possible

Current findings in interpersonal neurobiology are providing scientific support for more emphasis on whole-brain approaches in clinical practice that use empathy, emotion, attachment theory and other relational approaches to psychotherapy. These ‘softer’ approaches have previously been largely ignored as brain researchers favored study of the more cognitive aspects of the brain functioning in isolation. However, there is currently a flood of research calling for psychotherapy to improve its use and understanding of non-verbal, right-brain, attuned communication within therapy, and focusing offers a ready-made protocol which does just that. This is great news for FOT practitioners! This lecture will help FOTs understand the science behind why focusing works, provide new language for introducing clients to focusing, and help FOTs to concentrate on skills specific to client neural integration.

Location: Vancouver Centre for Peace, Fireside Room. 1825 West 16th Ave., Vancouver

Cost: $100.     Time: 9:30 to 4:00 pm

Register early as space is limited. To register please contact Judy Lyon at jplyon@shaw.ca or 778-395-2244

Instructors

Leslie Ellis, MA, RCC will be leading all of the courses listed above. Leslie has been practicing and teaching FOT for more than a decade and is a certifying coordinator with The Focusing Institute. She is currently working in a Ph.D. in Somatic Psychology and received her MA in Counselling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She is a psychotherapist in private practice in both North Vancouver and Vancouver with areas of specialty that include complex trauma, depression and anxiety.

Shaun Phillips, RCC will again be teaching many of the courses as well. Specifically, he will be assisting with the introductory and trauma courses. He has a private practice with a range of adolescent and adult clients addressing issues that include: childhood and adult trauma, PTSD, anxiety, depression, grief/loss, and relationships. Shaun is an associate therapist with the BC Society for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse where he uses FOT with individuals and groups and To the Moon and Back Psychological Services where he engages children in FOT and play therapy.

Fees/Registration

All two-day workshops run  from 9:30 to 4:00 and cost $340 plus HST ($380.80). Early-bird rates are available. One-day workshops are $150 plus HST ($168.00).  Registration will be available on-line at this page for all workshops (you can pay by visa, paypal or cheque).  You can reserve your spot by phone or email:  contact Leslie Ellis at (604) 787-6430 or email lae@telus.net. You can also mail confirmation and payment. Make cheques payable to Leslie Ellis and mail to: 4505 Stonehaven Ave. North Vancouver, BC V7G 1E7. Please include a contact phone number and email address. If you are planning to attend a workshop, please let us know as early as possible.

(Read more about our Focusing-Oriented Therapist training.)


Testimonials

I am currently taking the FOT certification training program, and I can say without hesitation that this is the best training I have ever had! I get so much out of every session; I highly recommend her courses. I have been working in the addictions field for almost six years, with a clientele who often use drugs or alcohol to manage painful feelings brought on by childhood trauma. Through Leslie Ellis’ workshops, I have been learning how to use Gendlin’s “Focusing” approach, which is proving to be an invaluable therapeutic tool. Leslie combines her experience as a therapist and gentle teaching style, to create interesting and challenging experiential workshops. I find them helpful and enjoyable, and I have no doubt that once I have completed her certification program, I will be well-grounded in this wonderful modality.

Donna Steadman, RCC, Langley, BC

I am truly amazed at the power of focusing as I work with my clients. It is so profound!

Marianna Terrett, MA, PhD Candidate, RCC

Leslie is a master in the field of Focusing Oriented Therapy and Trauma. Her work has touched the lives of many for more than a decade. Her professional skills, ethics and compassion make her highly sought out by many organizations and individuals. Leslie is excellent at facilitation and collaborating with communities and organizations. She is especially gifted at developing and delivering meaningful cross cultural therapy programs that bring relevant and current practical skills to therapists working with complex trauma. What I personally love most about Leslie is her willingness to not only teach what she has learned, but her vision to research, expand and grow what is already there, for the service of others. She comes from the heart and uses her head in all the right ways.

Shirley Turcotte, RCC, SFTT, Vancouver, BC

Leslie Ellis does an excellent job of presenting the concepts and process of using Focusing as a therapeutic technique. She not only explains the process in a clear way, she organizes her course so that we can learn about focusing by experiencing it through safe and insightful exercises and by watching videos of actual sessions using Focusing in therapy. When I left I felt like I had a clear understanding of the process, the differences in various approaches to Focusing and could begin immediately and safely applying what I learned with my clients. I look forward to further developing my understanding and skills in the advanced courses she will be offering.

Charlotte Underwood, M.A., L.M.H.C., La Conner, Washington

I took the Introduction to Focusing-Oriented Therapy workshop and felt that Leslie was a brilliant, supportive and encouraging instructor. She was able to create a safe and comfortable environment able to meet a wide range of learning needs. Her interest, passion, professional experience and skillset for focusing-oriented therapy were evident throughout the workshop as she was able to create and foster a solid foundation for learning for her participants. Furthermore, she effectively facilitated a group energy that was conducive for the generation of my own interest in focusing necessary to incorporate it into my professional practice as a social worker.

Ryna Olonan, Vancouver, BC