Customer Reviews

Power of Focusing: Finding Your Inner Voice

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What I like most about The Power of Focusing, which I have reaad and re-read, is the author's observation that the essence of Focusing is your relationship with yourself. That is, living the Focusing attitudes by being gentle and compassionate with yourself. This is a perfect fit with my experience, both personal and professional (I am a psychologist). Living in the present moment with kindness and acceptance is perhaps the greatest benefit that I, and consequently those around me, have derived from Focusing.

It is most helpful to share Focusing by having a recent book which contains the fruits of over 15 years of the author's teaching. The first Focusing self-help book, the classic by Eugene Gendlin, anchors the practice - it has a history. Now when I pass Focusing on, I can add Ann Cornell's book as an example of the living tradition of Focusing, one of the ways it has developed since Gendlin's book was published in 1981. It is an excellent illustration that while there are Focusing basics, such as the attitude of respect, there is always something new to learn and more applications in using the process. For instance, I am a certified Focusing teacher, but one of my new learnings from this book was a clearer concept of what "guiding" is. Addtionally, Ann Cornell's examples are very good illustrations of the concepts she is teaching. One of my favorites is "Matt," because it shows how Focusing can combine in a useful way with other factors when one is making a major decision.

Finally, from a marketing standpoint the book is very attractive and has great endorsements on the cover. I hope there is a 100th printing!

I read Gendlin's book two decades ago, and discovered this one a few years ago. So I've got quite a bit of experience with Focusing under my belt. This is a very powerful meditational discipline, but simple to learn and implement.

It is particularly useful in sorting out dilemmas or problems where you feel ambivalent, are conflicted, or fear you have lost objectivity. Should you quit your job, leave your spouse, marry your girlfriend, change careers? Is your relationship with a spouse/friend/sibling/child frustrating you? Are you at your wits end with a boss or co-worker? Can't figure out how to express yourself to those you care about?

I've found Focusing powerful because it is such a *fast* way of developing new insight and articulating what you really think and feel. And it feels good and may help you stay more aware of what matters to you during your day.

I just recommended this book to someone who is almost a stranger but who is facing some big, confusing decisions. If that's where you are too right now, this book is worth taking a chance on.

I first read Eugene Gendlin's original book on Focusing and found it tremendously helpful and life-changing. But finding this additional resource on Focusing was a wonderful gift because this book clarifies and gets to the heart of how you can really make Focusing work for you. The author states concepts simply but powerfully and addresses those very issues that were hard for me to understand in Gendlin's book. I felt like I just couldn't fail with Focusing after I read this book. She also has really, really helpful examples throughout the book. I have recommended this book to a lot of people, without reservation, and will continue to do so.

For me this book is the clearest description I found of how to go about healing emotional wounds that our bodys hold. It really does give a way to respectfully access the bodys wisdom, and let ourselves move naturally towards wholeness.

This book is easy to understand, based on though experience, and above all, useful.

I have found Focusing personally invaluable, and this book makes the process accessable. I really can't recommend it too highly.

Ann learned Focusing in 1970, during the "first wave" of Focusing teaching. In the mid-1980's, she became the first full-time Focusing teacher. She has probably taught more people to Focus than anyone else - literally thousands, and on every continent. But she didn't start out a Focusing "natural". Initially, learning Focusing left her, in her words, "fascinated and frustrated":

"Fascinated because I knew this was just what I was looking for: a simple and powerful way to get to know what I really felt and wanted. Frustrated because it was hard for me to learn. I didn't understand what I was being asked to do, and when I tried to do what I thought they were teaching, nothing happened."

Out of this experience, grew her life's calling as a Focusing teacher: "I never forgot the difficulties I had had learning Focusing, and I resolved to find ways to improve the teaching of Focusing so anyone could learn it."

What's Focusing?

Focusing was "discovered" in research conducted by Eugene Gendlin and his colleagues. Being innately able to Focus distinguished successful therapy clients from clients who failed. As Ann describes this process: "...our bodies are wise in many ways.... Our bodies carry knowledge about how we are living our lives, about what we need to be more fully ourselves, about what we value and believe about what has hurt us emotionally, and how to heal it. Our bodies know which people around us are the ones who bring out the best in us, and which people deplete and diminish us. Our bodies know what is the right next step to bring us to more fulfilling and rewarding lives."

"Focusing is the way in to this vast realm of knowledge and this exciting potential for change. Focusing lets you form a trusting relationship with your body so you can begin to hear the wisdom... that is accessible through body awareness. Focusing lets you listen to the whispers of your body before it has to shout. Focusing is the key to changing your life in a way that satisfies your inner sense of rightness."

And Focusing is practical, everyday-useful & quite learnable, as I've known & taught for over 25 years. Disclosure: I was a Focusing "natural", initially learning to Focus on my own through Gene's Focusing (see my review). And two years later, when I took my first workshop with Gene, in 1983, Ann was one of his trainers. We quickly became & have remained friends & colleagues, including my being on the editorial board of her newsletter, "The Focusing Connection" since it started in 1984. Over the years, I've learned much about Focusing, Listening & the teaching of Focusing from Ann.

"The Power of Focusing" - Focusing's third world-wide best-seller, and like Gene's Focusing, translated into many languages -- came out of Ann's hard-won insights from her first decade of teaching Focusing. It's one of the Big 4 "How-to-Learn-Focusing" books, with Gene's Focusing; Frs. Drs. Ed McMahon & Peter Campbell's BioSpirituality: Focusing As a Way to Grow (see my review); and Ann's books with Barbara McGavin, "The Focusing Student's and Companion's Manual, Parts One & Two" (from her website, www.focusingresources.com or the Focusing Institute's website, www.focusing.org).

What distinguishes "The Power of Focusing" as a pathway to learn Focusing?

First: Clear, precise language, simply & briefly presented. Ann has a PhD in linguistics, and her sensitivity to "just the right" language shows here and throughout her writing. Of the Big 4, this is the shortest & most concise.

Second: Clear, real-life examples. One chapter is a series of brief Focusing stories on such issues as "dealing with overwhelming feelings", "making a decision", "getting information from a physical symptom" and "getting clear on an interpersonal issue". (Gene's and Ed & Pete's books also have clear examples.)

Third: A practical expansion of how to relate gently & carefully with difficult issues, difficult feelings, even with difficult & harsh thoughts (aka "the critic" or super-ego). From this, Ann developed her current approach, which she calls "inner relationship Focusing". (Ed & Pete present a more spiritual-oriented versions, which they call "caring feeling presence" & "bio-spiritual Focusing".)

Fourth: Dozens of short Focusing "tips" - from paragraph- to page-long, practical ideas to help you through common Focusing situations & troubles and to help you deepen your Focusing experiences. (All the Big 4, of course, have their "tips".)

Ann writes fine chapters to introduce topics like learning to Focus with a friend the best way to keep Focusing in your life), using Focusing with clients as a professional psychotherapist, and using Focusing within your own psychotherapy as a client.

Many of these topics are covered more extensively in other books. So in conducting Focusing-oriented psychotherapy, for example, you can read books like Gendlin's Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy: A Manual of the Experiential Method, Neil Friedman's Focusing-Oriented Therapy: (Fot) or Campbell Purton's Person-Centred Therapy: The Focusing-Oriented Approach or his The Focusing-Oriented Counselling Primer: A Concise, Accessible, Comprehensive Introduction (Counselling Primer Series), among others. But as always, Ann's chapter is a nice, clear, brief beginning.

All the Big 4 have their strengths: the spiritual/evolutionary concentration of Ed & Pete's "Bio-Spirituality" and their memorable story-telling; the deep insights & precisions about the practice, meaning & social/evolutionary potential of Focusing, this from an internationally recognized psychologist & philosopher, in Gene's "Focusing"; the wealth of practical detail in Ann & Barbara McGavin's 2-part manual - the longest of them all. All 4 present different practical, well-tested programs for understanding & learning Focusing. All can be "the best book" for the right individual. For choosing, maybe read my reviews, which quote from each, giving you some sense not only of their content, but also their style.

And know, too, that some people need to learn Focusing from a Focusing teacher. Fortunately, there are certified & experienced Focusing teachers all over the world. You can contact www.focusing.org, www.biospirituality.org, or www.focusingresources.org -- Gene's organization, Ed & Pete's organization or Ann's organization -- for names, perhaps near you. And many teachers, including Ann, teach Focusing, individually or in classes, over the phone.

But I would start with a book, and Ann's "Power of Focusing" is certainly a excellent one.

If, as I strongly recommend, you do learn Focusing - through Ann's book or the others, or through a Focusing teacher - when you're ready for more, read her The Radical Acceptance of Everything (see my review). These essays, written over 20 years of teaching, are from my experience, are the best published "next steps" for your more experienced Focusing.

I looked into Focusing at one point in time. It looked promising, but difficult, and too good to be true. I picked up Gendlin's book and was unimpressed. I was turned off by these absurd assumptions he made. Such as how Focusing will soon make psychotherapy obsolete. And how it was sold too much as a self-help technique, and brief therapy. And what I saw as an overly high focus on grand experiences and releases. It seemed like that same fallacy I see when some thinker finds something new, and suddenly takes it too far, as if they have THE answer.
I have to say that this book has none of the above flaws or dumb assumptions. This author seems to have thought long and hard about teaching Focusing effectively. It is a short self-help book. But the author emphasizes how Focusing can be used in conjunction with therapy, or other life events that require looking into oneself. It is accessible without being cheezy or shallow. The tips and descriptions help very much to clarify the subtle process of Focusing.
Many practices talk themselves up as if it all you need, such as this or that meditative path, or this or that therapy. Focusing is very flexible and can be used with the contemplative and psychological methods of inner change, very effectively.
This book is highly recommended. Forget Gendlin's book.

Focusing is a life-changing technique of identifying what is really going on inside you. And Ann's book is a clear explanation of how to do the technique of Focusing. She is a remarkable teacher, able to both understand and explain significant nuances of the technique... nuances that can make the difference between success and failure in using the technique. A magnificent work. Bravo, Ann!

I found the book to be exaclty what I was looking for. I already was knowledgeable regarding Focusing, had the information, witnessed it being used but really wanted more in the way of guidance and tips. The author, from her many years of experience, guides one through Focusing and provides so much helpful advice and various tips. Power of Focusing

This book is exactly what I've been looking for! It brings together the skills I've learned as a Life Coach with a form of Energy Psychology that is inspiring, easy to follow, applicable to all of life's challenges, and deeply compassionate. I'm writing this review at the end of 2008 and have to say: THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ THIS YEAR! Never before have I come across a self help book that has delivered on its promises so fully. After writing this review, I intend to begin pursuing training in this wonderful set of skills so that I can use it in my coaching practice. Kudos to the author. Very well done.

Wow, this book does an excellent job of explaining just how to begin the art of Focusing. I've been trying to get a handle on this type of thing for a long time, and didn't even know it. Kinda like when there is a word on the tip of your tongue but you're not sure what it is. I'm glad I found this book!!