Focusing Pathways

Beth Mahler is an internationally recognized Certifying Coordinator for The International Focusing Institute & a practicing Licensed Clinical Social Worker based in New Jersey, U.S.A. Beth integrates her 30 years of training & development in the Psychology field to provide high quality teaching, training, & therapeutic services. She is best known for her compassionate care while providing trauma informed resilience practices to effect change. These changes carry forward toward psychosocial, physical, & mental wellness through mutual attunement & client centered modalities. Beth would love to hear from you & can be reached at beth.f.mahler@gmail.com.

Rafael Villeta is a Focusing trainer and Focusing-oriented therapist, these two disciplines define his current professional dedication. He previously worked in graphic design and painting and was also a tennis coach for twenty-eight years, especially in the Madrid Tennis Federation. Creator of the Organic Tennis method where he integrates Focusing and somatic dance with the teaching of academic tennis. He has a Bachelor and postgraduate studies in Fine Arts, allowing him to integrate creativity as a fundamental engine in his approach to therapy, education, somatics and movement. During the last ten years he has been more intensely dedicated to his training in various somatic dance disciplines. He defines himself as a dyslexic, visually handicapped white male interested in personal relationships and dance. His website is https://rafaelvilleta.com

Pat Duffy is a Passionist priest. He trained as a marriage counsellor with Accord and later was awarded a Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy by Middlesex University with the Personal Counselling Institute, Dublin. He is accredited with I.A.C.P. He is also a Certified Focusing Coordinator with the Focusing Institute, New York, qualified to teach focusing and to train others to teach it. He works as a therapist with Daneo Human and Spiritual Development Services and Cancer Lifeline in Belfast and has been an advisor to the Board of The International Focusing Institute. You'll find Pat's article on biospirituality at: https://www.daneo.org/focusing---a-way-of-living-the-paschal-mystery-pat-duffy-cp.html

Mary Jennings is a Coordinator and Focusing Trainer with The International Focusing Institute and has been involved with Focusing in Ireland for almost thirty years. She is a facilitator of the Institute's Roundtable series aimed at encouraging conversation and connection. In this episode Mary shares the many paths of her Focusing journey with Therese . You can find out more about the monthly Reading Freshly online event which Mary hosts and which is free for members of the International Focusing Institute at https://focusing.org/event/reading-freshly-0

John first discovered Focusing while recovering from a chronic illness that left him hospitalised for six months. Focusing had such an impact on his life that he changed career from working in the Health Insurance Industry, to studying the philosophy and practice of the Focusing Process. John took a BA in Philosophy in the Jesuit University, Milltown Park in Dublin and obtained his certification as a Focusing Professional through the Focusing Institute in New York. Inspired by the work of BioSpiritual Focusing, he obtained a master’s degree in Philosophy for his study on the correlations between BioSpiritual Focusing and Narrative. John is the International Director of the BioSpiritual Institute. You can find out more about Biospiritual Focusing at https://biospiritual.org/

In June 2023 Elaine met Josine van Noord from Holland at the Focusing Weeklong in Dublin. They recorded this impromptu interview in which Josine describes how she learned Focusing from Marta Stapert who is renowned for her work on Focusing with children. Josine's story of her very early years in a prisoner-of-war camp in Indonesia and the healing Focusing brought to her adult life is both touching and inspiring. Focusing with Children: The art of communicating with children at school and at home by Marta Stapert and Erik Verliefde (PCCS Books, 2008) Rob Foxcroft Feeling Heard, Hearing Others. The poem 'Marta' which Josine refers to is on page 154. *This interview was recorded in a bedroom at the Dominican Retreat Centre in Tallaght on a laptop so apologies if the sound quality is slightly off and it ended up more like a chat as opposed to an interview.

Beatrice Blake became a Certified Focusing Trainer in 2000. She went on to study Thinking at the Edge with its founder, Eugene Gendlin, PhD, and with Kye Nelson, Nada Lou and Evelyn Fendler Lee. In 2011 she became a certifying Coordinator with The International Focusing Institute She has been teaching Thinking at the Edge since 2013. Beatrice shares Gendlin’s vision that felt-sensing is an innate human capacity. It doesn’t have to be wielded by a “healer”. It's a tool for life-long exploration that anyone can practice by slowing down and listening in a friendly way to what is going on inside. Find out more about Beatrice Blake and Thinking at the Edge on her website. https://possibility-space.com/learn-focusing-and-tae/ The article Three Assertions about the Body is available from the Gendlin online library at https://focusing.org/

In this episode Therese speaks to Tom Larkin. Tom is a Focusing teacher from Dublin. He is also a Certifying Coordinator with the International Focusing Institute and a Focusing Oriented Therapist. Tom has also trained as a Forest Therapy guide and offers guided forest bathing walks to individuals and groups in-person and online.