Art Therapy and Focusing

The Focusing approach was created in the 1970s by Eugene T. Gendlin, a philosopher and psychologist.

The Focusing approach is an open approach that allows integration with various therapeutic practices. It is based on a process of listening to inner experience, paying attention to body sensations and visual and sensory images that arise. In this method, one listens to responses that come from deep within, without judgment or criticism toward what arises, from vague sensations to focused and clear sensations that can clarify and focus thoughts and deliberations. The combination of the Focusing method with psychotherapy and artistic expression is another tool to express with greater precision and clarity the feelings that stem from the inner world.

Example of a therapeutic process combining art and Focusing:
A patient, about 40 years old, saw during the process of listening to her body sensations and the images that arose, an image of a large boulder stuck inside her. Continuing the process of listening and paying attention to the stuck stone, she felt the change that occurred within her and from within her, and the stone became beautiful — one that could be leaned on and drawn inspiration from. When she opened her eyes, at my request she continued the process through drawing, and in the first drawing she drew the stone she saw in her imagination as an obstacle (upper drawing), and in the second drawing she drew the stone as a support and even spontaneously added a tree that grew in the drawing, as a continuation of the process (lower drawing).
The combination of Focusing and drawing contributed, enriched, and deepened the development of the process.