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Dear Danny (and others who emailed backchannel) Thank you for your considered response. I agree with the approach you describe, so let me correct some misunderstanding about Focusing. I would hope that people would not reject something before at least really understanding it. Then of course, reject it if it doesn’t fit for you. Danny, when you say ‘focusing’ I wonder what you mean? When you refer to ‘activists’ I wonder what you mean? I feel quite critical of ‘activists’ who set out to ‘empower’ people as if they know more about peoples’ situations than they do themselves. I also feel quite critical of ‘psychological’ approaches to social and political and economic realities. I feel very critical of any approach that would internalise (and worse, ‘help’ a person find ways to adapt to, live with rather than challenge) political and economic crises. I would even feel critical of community psychologists who retain for themselves an ‘expert’ role within a community while giving the impression of ‘empowering’ others … (I don’t accuse you of this). Focusing, as I practice it, and activism as it is practiced by the people I have worked with, displays a sophisticated awareness of these issues. It would be arrogant to assume community psychology alone is aware of these perspectives (and I’m sure you are not) - they are quite commonplace in my experience of communities I engage with, and, for e.g., evident in most (though not all) of the workshops I attended at the recent How To Do It conference in London. That conference was a mix of community workers, activists, and academics including community psychologists. I like your e.g. of fathers in Greater Yarmouth. I would not (like you might be suggesting) set out to see how these fathers could change as ‘individuals'. They might usefully change as individuals in all sorts of ways, as we all might. We might learn to listen to each other better, to ask questions rather than make assumptions etc. Those might be useful changes for each of us. But that would not be a community approach as I understand it. However, your approach (and I would have a similar approach) with these fathers was about how THEY could ‘articulate an alternative to the limited and limiting options available to them and their families…’ The question for me is how do they articulate alternatives? And you suggest looking at ‘the process whereby people can become more critically aware and politically awakened…’ in preparation for collective action. You worry that too much focus on internal processes might distract from toxic social processes. You worry that self-improvement masks or distracts from issues of social justice. I agree with all of this and my work illustrates this. This makes me think you have not understood Focusing. You ask how could Focusing engage more with these processes? You assume it is not already. You call it an ‘individual psychological intervention’. Focusing is actually a method of engagement with processes just like this, or it can be at least. It is one thing that I and many others who practice Focusing, offer in various communities around the world. It is also true that Focusing can be used as a practice of self-understanding, but that is not how I am using it here. (And even so, the idea of ‘self’ or ‘individual’ is never understood as not already infused with the whole social and political context as it is experienced, or as separate from what is called ‘external reality’. There is no ‘intrapsychic’ world in Focusing practice. With respect, I think it would be worth looking more closely at Focusing as a process before rejecting it on the above grounds. It is the opposite of ‘individualising’. It offers an experiential way of processing a situation (with a group), so that alternative options can be arrived at generatively and creatively from the ‘knowing’ that the group already has about the problem. It actively invites a community to experience their own solution arising from themselves. It offers a group a chance to see that they already have a great deal of awareness about the situation that they might not be making use of. How do you achieve the things you do with fathers? Do you stay at the cognitive level, dealing only with their ideas and discuss at that level? Do you import other people’s concepts and ideas and subtly influence the group to become ‘more politically awakened’ in the way you would define that? I suspect not, I assume you are doing something more nuanced than that and you are careful not to take away the voice of any group so that you can then ‘empower’ them. I hope you can hold the possibility that perhaps I am also engaged in something a bit more nuanced? Surely there is space in community psychology for more than one ‘how’? [The term ‘inner democracy’ (if that was the red flag) is about politicising so-called individual psychology and psychotherapy rather than about imposing individual psychology into social and political contexts. It is about bringing a more community approach to the consulting room setting where so much has been individualised]. Best wishes, Greg (not Geoff) Dr Greg Madison …………………………………... AFBPsS Psychologist (BPS, HCPC, EuroPsy) Psychotherapist (UKCP, ECP, WCPC) Focusing Coordinator UK Europe International SKYPE +44 (0) 7941300871 Email <mailto:[log in to unmask]> Psychology <http://www.gregmadison.net/> Focusing <http://www.londonfocusing.com/> This electronic transmission may contain confidential information intended only for the person(s) named above. If you received this transmission in error, please notify the sender by reply e-mail and then please destroy the message. Any use, distribution, copying or disclosure by any other person is strictly prohibited. Any client information contained in this email is subject to the accepted terms and conditions of confidentiality. > On 9 May 2016, at 13:44, Taggart, Danny <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Hi Greg, > > Thanks for the suggestion, I hope you don’t mind if I offer some brief feedback from a community psychology perspective. > > While I can see why this focusing might be helpful for people, it does not sit easily within a community psychology framework as far as I can see. My, limited, experience of working with activists ‘focused’ on enabling situations whereby people could become more aware of the social world around the, with all of it’s political, ideological and systemic underpinnings up for critique. So for example working with fathers in Great Yarmouth the talk was less about how they could change as it was about how they could articulate an alternative to the limited and limiting options available to them and their families because of the material circumstances they found themselves in. I know others on this list have varied and probably better examples of similar critical community psychology praxis. A concept that is sometimes used by some of us is the notion of conscientization which draws on radical pedagogy in Latin America. It is a complex idea to me but seems to about the process whereby people can become more critically aware and politically awakened as a first step towards emancipatory collective action. I would worry that too much emphasis on focusing on internal processes might distract attention away from the clearly visible toxic social processes that immeserate so many people in our society as individual self-improvement is increasingly prioritised over issues of social justice. A lovely example of this is the Psychologists Against Austerity banner which they take to marches which reads simply, ‘Equality is the best therapy.' > > I wonder how could this process of focusing engage more with some of these issues? My guess is some of our peers on this list would be sceptical that any individual psychological intervention by its very nature ever could, but it might be worth taking it up with your colleagues? > > What do other people think? I do not want to speak for others and am interested in what people might have to say. > > Thanks again for the mail Geoff. > > Kind regards, > Danny > > > >> On 9 May 2016, at 11:01, Greg Madison Ph.D. <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: >> >> Dear All >> >> I have just finished a one-day workshop in London teaching Focusing to Activists. I would like to continue this work. >> >> Focusing, a natural body-sensing that we each do, was initially described by psychologist and philosopher Eugene Gendlin. It is useful in personal growth, sensing into complex situations so that innovative action can come, stress reduction, and includes the development of sensitive listening skills, a very important skill for community groups and social action collectives. >> >> If anyone is aware of activist/social change groups who might be interested in learning this empowering form of ‘inner democracy’, please contact me off-list. Below is my information and a couple links to more information about Focusing. >> >> Cheers, Greg Madison >> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> >> www.londonfocusing.com <http://www.londonfocusing.com/> >> www.focusing.org <http://www.focusing.org/> >> >> >> >> >> Dr Greg Madison >> …………………………………... >> AFBPsS Psychologist (BPS, HCPC, EuroPsy) >> Psychotherapist (UKCP, ECP, WCPC) >> Focusing Coordinator >> UK Europe International SKYPE >> +44 (0) 7941300871 >> Email <mailto:[log in to unmask]> Psychology <http://www.gregmadison.net/> Focusing <http://www.londonfocusing.com/> >> This electronic transmission may contain confidential information intended only for the person(s) named above. If you received this transmission in error, please notify the sender by reply e-mail and then please destroy the message. Any use, distribution, copying or disclosure by any other person is strictly prohibited. Any client information contained in this email is subject to the accepted terms and conditions of confidentiality. >> >> >> ___________________________________ The list is jointly managed by David Fryer [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> and Grant [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>, either of whom are able to deal with queries. To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK <http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK> > ___________________________________ The list is jointly managed by David Fryer [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> and Grant Jeffrey [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>, either of whom are able to deal with queries. To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK <http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK> ___________________________________ The list is jointly managed by David Fryer [log in to unmask] and Grant Jeffrey [log in to unmask], either of whom are able to deal with queries. To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK