I had reconstructive surgery on my right ankle at the beginning of April. My mindset was one of ending and beginning. I think Spring is the perfect time for such a journey. In my recovery, I spent two weeks resting on my couch at home watching spring unfold outside my windows. Sometimes we need an event in our lives to facilitate change. Surgery, for me, was an event marked with endings, shedding commitments, and beginnings, making room to break new ground. Ahead is a year of recovery – physical healing infused with spiritual renewal. I am shifting my work more to Vashon, away from commuting, reducing the number of clients I see in order to dedicate more time to my teaching and training. I am reminded of Kierkegaard’s works, as I sense into “fear and trembling,” in tandem with growing opportunities: I notice that it all feels just right!
My three-plus years of planning and facilitating The Advanced and Certification Weeklong through The International Focusing Institute, came to completion on the coast of Chile in January. It was a remarkable experience of people from around the world coming together with mutual respect and common passion, a cantata of English and Spanish smoothly playing back and forth. The depth of connection people can make in such a short time, when our needs are met and we listen openly to each other, continues to amaze me.
The 29thInternational Focusing Conference in Mérida, Mexico in March was incredible in its own unique yet similar ways. I presented on “Ten Key Aspects of Working with Trauma.” (Click here to email me and request a copy.) Thirty people from around the globe attended my presentation, which was simultaneously translated into Spanish. During this presentation, I had the opportunity to reconnect with a woman who I’d had the chance to work with for one session at the Weeklong conference in 2017, where we processed a trauma she had experienced as a child. I invited her to come to the front of the room, where she courageously spoke about the session we’d had and how her life had changed since then. It was a gift for both me and the group to hear her story and witness the kind of change a Focusing-Oriented approach can facilitate in working with unwinding stuck patterns and frozen remnants of trauma. Such a vivid first-person account of healing was an inspiration to all present.
With the International Focusing Conference and three-year Weeklong Planning Committee completed, I have a reprieve from commitments to travel and present for the near future and look forward to dedicating my time to training, teaching, and mentoring. I am blessed to have a wonderful group of first-year students and am looking forward to beginning my second-year program again this fall. Additionally, I have begun work on a new website that is designed to support Focusing training and building a community of Focusing-Oriented therapists, healing professionals, and spiritual seekers. I look forward to walking with you all on the journey (and on two feet again!)
