BFA Certified Focusing Skills Course (for counsellors & psychotherapists)

Description

The British Focusing Association (BFA) provides Certified Focusing skills courses to give people a foundation in Focusing which will help to:

The BFA have many teachers of Focusing Skills Courses and no two courses will be the same. You can find out more about the variety of BFA Focusing Skills courses here

The BFA Certified Focusing Skills Course is a prerequisite to further professional training as a BFA-recognised Focusing Practitioner or Teacher. More info on BFA professional training here

This 60 hour course which will take place over 5 weekends in Long Stratton Norfolk is designed specifically for qualified and trainee counsellors/ psychotherapists who are registered with a professional body such as BACP or UKCP.

No previous experience of Focusing is required.

Focusing grew out of the extensive research of Eugene Gendlin and Carl Rogers in the 1950s. Their five-year research project in Person-Centred Therapy found that it wasn’t what the counsellor did in a session that created a successful therapy outcome (providing they were able to offer the basic core conditions), but rather what the client did. These clients who had a successful therapy outcome did something in sessions that Gendlin later termed ‘Focusing’ (getting in touch with what Gendlin termed a ‘Felt Sense’). Following the end of their research project Rogers went on to work with groups, whereas Gendlin advanced their research findings, developing Focusing as a guided self-help process (which could be used outside of therapy), and Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy (which emphasised enabling clients to connect with the all-important Felt Sense in therapy sessions).

The course provides an in-depth experiential exploration of Focusing beginning with Gendlin’s original formulation of it as an embodied process to express the ‘Felt Sense’ of a situation, and progresses on to contemporary creative approaches to Focusing such as art, movement, sand tray and body mapping.

Each weekend will provide the opportunity for participants to explore and connect deeply with their own Felt Sense and the ‘parts of self’ that are often discovered within a Felt Sense (eg. inner critic, inner child, protector, and others) whilst developing the skills necessary to facilitate the unfolding of a Felt Sense and parts of self in others.

This structured experiential approach is designed to gradually build the knowledge and skills necessary for counsellors/ psychotherapists to begin to integrate Focusing into their therapeutic work with clients, with plenty of opportunities for personal growth, experiential learning, discussion, and feedback.

A Unique Experience

Inner Focus' BFA Certified Focusing Skills course has the unique advantage of being in-person with a very small cohort of counsellors/ psychotherapists. This means that participants have the opportunity to ask questions and deeply explore and experience Focusing in a safe, confidential, warm environment in a way that is not possible with online courses. Participants get plenty of time, feedback and support from the course facilitator.

Assessment:

Certification:

Upon completion of the course participants will receive a Certificate in Focusing Skills from the British Focusing Association (BFA) and a certificate of completion from Inner Focus Limited. CPD hours: 60

Course Facilitator: Sara Bradly

Sara is a qualified Focusing-Oriented Therapist and Person-Centred Counsellor. She is a Focusing Trainer, a Children’s Focusing Trainer, and a Coordinator in Training (CiT) with The International Focusing Institute, New York (TIFI) and is a recognised Focusing Teacher with the British Focusing Association. She is the director of Inner Focus Limited and provides Focusing-Oriented Therapy to adults and children as well as delivering trainings and workshops in Focusing to organisations and individuals. Sara has presented Focusing at the BACP CYP/F Conference in London 2020, and is the author of a chapter on Focusing with Children in 'Senses of Focusing', Volume 1, edited by Judy Moore and Nikolaos Kypriotakis (Eurasia Publications, Athens, 2021).

Course Details:

*Please note accommodation and meals are NOT INCLUDED. There are hotels and Air B&B options nearby. Inner Focus is located on a high street where there are pubs, cafes and a Co-op which cater for most dietary requirements.

Dates:

Saturday 13th Sep (10am-4.30pm) - Sunday 14th Sep (10am-4.30pm)

Saturday 11th Oct (10am-4.30pm) - Sunday 12th Oct (10am-4.30pm)

Saturday 15th Nov (10am-4.30pm) - Sunday 16th Nov (10am-4.30pm)

Saturday 10th Jan (10am-4.30pm) - Sunday 11th Jan (10am-4.30pm)

Saturday 21st Feb (10am-4.30pm) - Sunday 22nd Feb (10am-4.30pm)