Focusing-oriented Coaching

Why Focusing?

Even though the daily management routine is dominated by sophisticated methods of rational analysis and decision-making, important decisions are eventually made using gut feelings. To sense is therefore widespread in the management environment, but is usually only used subliminally and in a less structured way. This is where Focusing comes in, by working its way to the origin of the issue through sensing. Therefor this way of Coaching is also called Body-oriented Coaching.

For which situations?

In general, Focusing is particularly suitable for deeper problems and blockages that may arise in the course of a coaching session. Very positive results can be seen in particular when negative emotions, stress or mind blocks are involved.

Emotional Competece (EC)

Positive and negative emotions have a strong influence on the cooperation of teams and team members and thus on the effectiveness of company processes. It is known that emotional and rational behavior are closely interrelated and that the emotional side has been neglected for a long time.

For this reason, many consultants have begun to use the buzzword "Emotional Intelligence (EI)" to assess the relevant competencies and personal characteristics of managers by means of personality tests. EI refers to the ability of people to recognize and deal with their own and others' emotions. What has been missing until now, however, is a concept on how to expand EI once the weak points are identified. With Focusing, a practical tool is now available with which EC can be built up and expanded step by step.

Stress

Positive stress is exciting and makes you happy. Stress that promotes body or mind is positive: “eustress”. If, on the other hand, the body cannot adapt to the stress, it leads to the decreased resilience and is therefore negative: “distress”.

Negative emotions in particular are pure energy guzzlers. Without an intact emotional life, every burden immediately creates stress. By means of Focusing, negative emotions are gradually dissolved and thus the emotional and mental blocks are taken away. A profound stress management and increase in resilience are the result.

Mental Blocks

In critical professional situations, many people often feel themselves blocked. We know "we should ... (finally make a call, or write a report, or ...)", but we don't do it. We are postponing "it", even though there are great risks connected with this postponement. Our "rational reasons" for this behavior (lack of time, other things to do, ...) are soon starting to annoy ourselves.

In such situations, we usually blame ourselves or we get blamed by others. Our highly sophisticated time management does not help anymore. So, if time management is not the problem: what else?

With Focusing there is the possibility to dissolve such inner blockages in a dedicated way.

Decision Making

When important decisions have to be made, Focusing is ideally suited to systematically work with the personal intuition in addition to the rational level. This inner gut feeling draws our attention to important aspects of decision-making and allows us to include aspects for which there are no words yet.

How does Focusing work?

Focusing is a term that characterizes the inner process of sensing: When we bring our attention to our body - especially on the chest/abdominal area - we can discover a diffuse physical feeling that already includes a meaning. This meaning, still unclear, has something to do with the situation we are currently in. If we now succeed in gradually clarifying the meaning of this physical feeling, we can see the situation changing. "Something dawns on me," "now I see the light", "I see something in a new light" are descriptions that are typical for such felt shifts after a successful clarification process. Situation here can also mean: a person who is there or whom we are thinking about; a problem which keeps us busy; a task we are facing; an experience that creates trouble for us.

In this way, the origin of a negative emotion is sensed, the body independently dissolves it as soon as it is recognized and appreciated, and relief is realized immediately.

Where does Focusing come from?

Prof. Gene Gendlin, an American psychotherapist, developed the theoretical foundations and the practical methods several decades ago. In some business segments like healthcare or social services, it is recognized and already used worldwide. Based on these many years of experience, Focusing has also been adapted for use in management coaching.

Advantages

The increasing elimination of negative emotions leads to significant stress resilience and well-balanced attitude. Consequently, there is a significant increase in emotional competence.

Participants will experience:

• Expansion of emotional competence
• Increased stress resilience
• Improved conflict management
• Improved health
• Balance

Wide range of advantages for companies:

• Resilient managers with a well-balanced attitude, even in difficult situations
• Improved teamwork
• More effective working processes
• Less absences due to illness
• Less conflicts

Focusing Session

A Focusing session has a framework similar to a coaching session. It can be integrated into the coaching session if needed and agreed on, or can be done separately.

There is a complementary kick-off first, including further information about Focusing.
Together we analyze the current situation, clarify the task and decide the way of working together as well as the goals.

Focusing takes place in the form of a face-to-face conversation, either in presence or via an internet-based video conference.

After several focusing sessions, there is an interim review meeting and at the end a final review.