Edges of Focusing and FOT. Nikos Kypriotakis & Judy Moore on The Living Process with Greg Madison

The Living Process. Practices in Experience and Existence

1w ago • 1 hr 6 mins

Delighted to welcome Judy and Nikos to this, episode 23 of The Living Process. Our guests are well known for their achievement of editing Senses of Focusing Volume 1 and 2, two fantastic resources featuring new writing and diverse perspectives on Focusing and FOT. In this episode, we discuss critiques of focusing, what is coming next for them both, and positive developments they would like to see happen in therapy generally and in the Focusing world. In our 3-way conversation, we touch on the way that other approaches like the person-centered approach, Internal Family Systems, or Emotion Focus Therapy might incorporate focusing as a technique without fully integrating the fundamental importance of the experiential response, felt sensing, and carrying forward. We touched on different words and understandings for theories of the body, for eg the Ancient Greek terms like 'pathos' and the difference it offers if we allow ancient philosophy to be experienced freshly. We raised questions regarding what we can do to be better understood by other traditions and to translate some of our discoveries so that therapists from other orientations can think further with them. How do we in FOT deal with abrupt or cathartic changes? How do we engage with theories? How can we build bridges with other therapeutic communities and philosophies? What is our view of the person? Is there a spiritual context for our understanding of human being? Can we stay open to other ways of thinking so that they stay open to us? What is the future of FOT and therapy? How to keep developing FOT ourselves after the work of Gendlin… In response to this Judy and Nikos are planning a series of seminars or a symposium to welcome critical thinking and deeper exploration of Focusing, FOT and our relationship to other ways of understanding. Nikolaos Kypriotakis has studied Physics and has been trained in Person-Centred & Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, Person-Centred Supervision and Children Focusing. He works as an FOT therapist and Focusing Trainer for the Hellenic Focusing Center and he is a Certifying Coordinator with The International Focusing Institute, New York. Together with Judy Moore he edited the collective work Senses of Focusing, Vol. I & II and has translated into Greek the book Focusing by Eugene T. Gendlin. He was the editor-in-chief of the magazine Εποχή-Epoché (Phenomenological Psychotherapies), for the issues n.1 to n.16. Judy Moore was originally trained in the classical Person-Centred Approach on the first PCA professional training in the UK. She taught on the postgraduate Diploma in Person-Centred Counselling at the University of East Anglia (UEA) throughout the 1990s before, thanks to the work of her colleague, Campbell Purton, finally discovering the extent of Gendlin’s contribution to the development of Client-Centred/ Person-Centred Therapy. As Director of the Centre for Counselling Studies at UEA she worked with Campbell to develop Focusing and FOT training at UEA in the early 2000s. UEA also hosted several conferences, including colloquiums on Gendlin’s philosophy. Judy is a Certifying Coordinator of The International Focusing Institute, working in private practice and as a freelance trainer and consultant. In 2021 she co-edited (with Nikolaos Kypriotakis) the two volumes of Senses of Focusing. https://sensesoffocusing.weebly.com Focusing book in Greek translation: https://bit.ly/3Y9BtwM #bodytherapy #focusing #gendlin #experientialpractice #somaticexperience #psychotherapy #counseling #psychology #personalgrowth #rodgers

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