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November Archives “Is this violence? Naming violence as a form of political advocacy?” (November Archives “Is this violence? Naming violence as advocacy”) at the Third Conference on the Felt Sense (Third Felt Sense Conference), organized by the International Focusing Institute online this year 2021 with the focus on “An embodied release: the felt sense and Social Justice” (English “Embodied Liberation: the Felt Sense & Social Justice”). In my workshop I plan to make a cross between the Child Protection work that I develop from my consultancy, Spiral Consulting Children, and the inner dimension of Focusing. At the same time, I hope to offer elements of inner awareness that will be useful to anyone committed to Social Justice, not only with Child Protection.

Date: viernes, 3 December 2021, of 11:00 a 13:00 new york time (17:00-19:00 Madrid time, see other time slots here).

Place: online.

Language: English.

More information and registration: página web de Third Felt Sense Conference (2021).

[Original entry 24 November 2021, actualizada a 3 December 2021, date of the event].

Focusing has always had at its core the improvement of society, not just of individuals. Gendlin wrote extensively about the social and political dimension of Focusing, as the felt sense provides a better understanding of our inner life –and of external circumstances. Starting from deep personal work, Focusing invites us to step into interpersonal relationships and social structures with strength, flexibility and awareness and to start the changes we want to see in the world.

I am therefore very honoured to present my workshop “Is this violence? Naming violence as advocacy” at the Third Felt Sense Conference, organised by The International Focusing Institute online this year 2021 with the focus in “Embodied Liberation: the Felt Sense & Social Justice”. In my workshop I am planning to cross the work in Child Protection that I develop from my consultancy firm, Spiral Consulting Children, with the inner dimension of Focusing. However, I hope to offer inner awareness for every person that is committed with Social Justice, not just in Child Protection.

Date: Friday, December 3rd 2021, 11:00-13:00 New York time (17:00-19:00 Madrid time, check your time here).

Place: online.

Language: English.

More information and registration: website of the Third Felt Sense Conference (2021).

[Original post of November 24th 2021, updated December 3rd 2021, day of the event].

[Read this entry in Spanish].

I am very happy about being able to facilitate a workshop about “Felt-sensing with objects: a way to interacting with inner parts” at the online International Focusing-Oriented Therapy Conference that will take place online from October 21st. till the 25th. 2020 (October 22nd.-26th. in Asia and Australasia).

It will be an experiential workshop about Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy.

“Working with inner parts in therapy can be challenging in many ways. Using objects (figurines, pencils, Plasticine) can allow for a better understanding of inner parts. The process of choosing one or more objects can foster felt-sensing without explaining in excess. In this way, we can help clients –children but also adults– to listen to each part, to see the life-forward drive in them and to establish a better relationship with them. This will be a practical workshop, so please bring some small objects that you can use in your therapy room (a dozen of colored pencils will be enough).

Takeaways:

1) Five key ideas for working with inner parts in therapy with children, adolescents and adults.

2) An example of a process of felt-sensing with objects.

3) A short experience of working with objects, to develop your personalized style.”

Date: Friday October 23rd 2020, 09:00-11:00 New York time (15:00-17:00 Madrid time) (your time here).

Place: online.

Language: the workshop will be in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish.

More information and registration: website of the International Focusing-Oriented Therapy Conference.

[Original post from October 7th 2020, updated on October 23rd 2020, day of the event].

[Click here to read this post in English.]

The document Beyond survival. How to improve intervention with unaccompanied and separated migrant children who are left outside the protection system, what Pepa Horno, my partner in Childhood Consulting Spirals, and I have written for UNICEF Spain and UNICEF France, just posted, and is available in two versions:

• Download the original English version of Beyond Survival. Improving intervention in Europe with Unaccompanied and Separated Migrant Children who fall through the protection system.
• Download the Spanish translation, Beyond survival. How to improve intervention with unaccompanied and separated migrant children who are left outside the protection system.

This is a technical publication that has to do with Child Protection, social intervention and human rights. In fact, We have the ideas and conscience of about a hundred professionals in the International Workshop in December 2019 en Madrid, that I helped facilitate (we explain more in our CI Spirals blog post). However, it is also a very personal document for me.

On the one hand, children, Unaccompanied and separated migrant girls and adolescents have a very special place in my heart. I worked in Morocco for several years with children, girls and adolescents living on the streets and I know the difficulties they have there, and what makes them risk their lives for the possibility of having a better future. I have also worked for several years in Madrid with adolescents at social risk, and many of them were migrant boys and girls with no family references, so I have accompanied their steps in the difficulties they encountered to build a good future in Spain. And to this day I still enjoy being able to speak with them in Moroccan Arabic, a language that I really like. I hope that this document helps professionals and also the general public to have a compassionate look towards these children., and adolescents, and to worry about their welfare. (You can read more about my career path on my LinkedIn profile).

On the other hand, currently this is a very sensitive issue, due to multiple factors. As lead editor, I have repeatedly used do Focusing as a process for structuring ideas and finding the right formulations. The keys to more protective narratives need to come from a consciousness firmly rooted in the body. Hope this brings clarity and also a deeper perspective to this whole topic, especially if the more intricate parts manage to be a little more explicit.

In conclusion, it has not only been a professional challenge, but also a very personal process. I hope you enjoy it.

F. Javier Romeo

[Read this entry in Spanish].

The document Beyond Survival. Improving intervention in Europe with Unaccompanied and Separated Migrant Children who fall through the protection system, that Pepa Horno, my colleague at Espirales Consultoría de Infancia, and me have written for UNICEF Spain and UNICEF France, has just been published, and it is available in two versions:

• Download the original version in English of Beyond Survival. Improving intervention in Europe with Unaccompanied and Separated Migrant Children who fall through the protection system.
• Download the translation into Spanish, Beyond survival. How to improve intervention with unaccompanied and separated migrant children who are left outside the protection system.

This is a technical publication that has to do with Child Protection, social intervention and human rights. In fact, we counted with the ideas and awareness of nearly a hundred professionals at an International Workshop in December 2019 in Madrid, that I co-facilitated (we explain more about it in our blog post in Espirales CI). However, it is also a very personal document for me.

On the one hand, Unaccompanied and Separated Migrant Children are very dear to me. I worked in Morocco for several years with children in street situation and I know of the difficulties there, what makes them risk their lives for the possibility of a better future. I also worked for several years in Madrid with at-risk youth, and many of them were unaccompanied migrant children, so I accompanied their steps in the difficulties of building a good future for themselves in Spain. And I still enjoy being able to speak with them in Moroccan Arabic, a language that I like very much. I hope that this document will help other professionals and the general public to have a compassionate regard to these children, and to care for their wellbeing. (More about my career path in my LinkedIn Profile).

On the other hand, this is currently a very sensitive issue, due to several factors. As main writer, I have used extensively Focusing with myself as a process to structure the ideas, and to find the adequate wording. The clues for more protective narratives need to come from an embodied awareness. I hope that this will bring clarity and also a deeper perspective to all this subject, with some of its intricacies made a bit more explicit.

In conclusion, it has been not only a professional challenge, but also a very personal process. I hope that you will enjoy it.

F. Javier Romeo

Information about the Roundtable on Crossing Focusing and Nonviolent Communication (NVC) organized by The International Focusing Institute through its Membership Committee. As it is a past event the information is no longer available on TIFI’s website and has been edited accordingly.

“Discovery, Community and growth. Those are the words you choose my body to symbolize the full experience of the First National Meeting Focusing Open. Organized by the Spanish Institute Focusing and coordinated by the Sevillian team Experiential Space, The meeting took place 12 to the 15 October in the charming Andalusian city of Seville, in the south of Spain”.

So begins my article in which I describe my experience for the In-Focus, the newsletter of the International Institute Focusing November 2017. In the space acotaron I have tried to reflect the international community for focusing the activities that we have shared in the First National Open Meeting Focusing, while I also wanted to reflect, in the tradition of Focusing and Experiential Philosophy, what has been my experience. From here I want to express my appreciation to Focusing Spanish Institute for convening this fantastic event, to the Experiential Space team led by Francisco Sivianes by coordinate and each speaker and each participant has made it possible, It has been an unforgettable experience.

• Read article “Discovery, Community and Growth. The 1st Open National Focusing Conference in Seville” in the original English version.
• Read the article translated into Spanish with the title “Discovery, Community and growth: the First National Open Focusing in Seville, Spain”.

Presentando a Catherine Torpey, Executive Director of TIFI. Photo Francisco Sivianes.

I left for this blog more personal aspects, as I experienced the honor of Catherine Torpey able to present, who came to Seville to present the international dimension of International Focusing Institute (GIRLS) as Executive director of the same. For me, I collaborate with Committee Membership for more than a year ago, It is a satisfaction that community Focusing on Spain (also participants from other countries) you can see first hand to Catherine and all that makes the International Focusing Institute.

My workshop “Focusing for the prevention of violence”. Photo Francisco Sivianes.

It was also a privilege to provide my workshop “Focusing and experiential work with violence”, in which I could share with people from five different nationalities some of the keys to use bodily sensations and focusing process to identify violence in a more complete and create security in our lives, an introductory version of my workshop “Focusing, body and safety: Focusing for the prevention of violence”.

There are many more memories, as each of the workshops I attended, or general conference, or the people I met (new or deeper)… You can see more about the environment of the different moments in the photographs taken by Francisco Sivianes (Focusing trainer and director of Experiential Space): of Thursday 12 October, of viernes 13 October and sábado 14 October of 2017.

This presentation is also available by Rosa Galiano with photos of his, Francisco Sivianes and others and published in the International YouTube channel Focusing Institute:

He has been an inspiration and I hope that also inspire you.

F. Javier Romeo

Text in Spanish – Japanese – Click here to read in English

Focusing International Conference in Cambridge (United Kingdom) in July 2016 continues to bear fruit.

Today I have the honor to present the translation of my article “Combining Focusing and Nonviolent Communication. Reflecting deeper implications for” (appeared in 2014 in The Folio. A Journal for Focusing and Experiential Therapy) Japanese, with the suggestive title “Focusing and non-violent communication intersection of - towards the deeper implications tell-back -“.

Con Madoka Kawahara (Kawahara circle).

Cambridge had the pleasure to meet Madoka Kawahara (Kawahara circle), Focusing training psychotherapist who had initiated the translation of the article a while back, already Mako Hikasa (Mako Hikasa), Focusing renowned Coordinator, which joined the project in its final phase translation. Our discussions from that meeting made the project proceed, and now there is this careful translation is available on the website Focusing Japanese Association (Japan Focusing Association), and I reproduce here with his permission.

From here I want to express my deep appreciation for their efforts and dedication (there have been many emails back and forth to clarify concepts and terms) so you can know this aspect of Focusing among many practitioners and professionals Focusing Japan.

In deep appreciation,

Xavier

Japanese

Cambridge 27th International Focusing Conference, which was held in (the UK)It is、It has brought a more abundant achievements。

now、I、paper"Intersection of the focusing and the non-violent communication - deeper implications toward tell-back -"（"Journal for focusing and experiencing therapy"The Folio. A Journal for Focusing and Experiential TherapyVol. 25, No. 1、2014I am honored to be posted on the year) has been translated into Japanese。

Madoka Kawahara

In Cambridge、Mr. counselor Madoka Kawahara undergoing focusing training Ya、There was a happy encounter with renowned certification focusing Coordinator Mako Hikasa。Because、And Ms. Madoka Kawahara is already working on this translation、And in the final stage of the project、Mako HikasaIt has been added。After the International Conference、Keep in touch us towards the translation completed、Then now、The exact Japanese translation has been completed。this is、Japan focusing association's Web siteYou can read in。Than the association、We received the authorization of the link posted。

To me is a certain enthusiasm and their interest effort、Deeply Thank you。In order to clarify the concepts and nuances、It was frequently exchanged e-mail。Many of certified Focusing trainers and practitioners of Japan、Because becomes an opportunity to get to know this aspect of focusing。

Gratitude

Javier

English text

The International Focusing Conference 2016 in Cambridge (United Kingdom) keeps bringing more fruits.

Now I have the honor of presenting my article “Crossing Focusing and Nonviolent Communication: Reflecting for Deeper Implications”, that appeared in The Folio. A Journal for Focusing and Experiential Therapy in 2014, translated into Japanese with the title “Focusing and non-violent communication intersection of - towards the deeper implications tell-back -“.

With Madoka Kawahara (Kawahara circle).

In Cambridge I had the pleasure of meeting Madoka Kawahara (Kawahara circle), a psychotherapist trained in Focusing who had already started the translation some time ago, and Mako Hikasa (Mako Hikasa), a renowned Focusing Coordinator that joined the project in its final stages. The conversations we had after that encounter have brought the work to its completion, and now we have this precise translation, that is available on the website of the Japan Focusing Association (Japan Focusing Association), reproduced here with permission.

I want to express my profound gratitude for their interest and hard work –there have been lots of e-mails to clarify concepts and nuances– to make possible that this aspect of Focusing might be known among the numerous Focusing professionals and practitioners in Japan.

In gratitude,

Xavier

Today I want to share this video posted by the International Focusing Institute (The International Focusing Institute) de Gene Gendlin, the father of Focusing, in which he talks about how “we are different when we interact with different people”. In this short but rich recording, Gendlin explica (with Spanish subtitles, that can be turned on and off) that this has the consequence that by sharing something of ours with another person, the very act of being with the other person facilitates the change.

A suggestive and inspiring video. Hope you enjoy the.

Xavier

A deep sense of honor and a clear feeling of humility and shyness arise in me as I share this interview. I can clearly feel the responsibility of talking about the work I do on “Focusing and how to work experientially with issues of violence” (“Focusing and how to work experientially with violence”), as the English title of the conversation says. It is an important topic for me (I work a lot on it through Spiral Consulting Children, the consultancy specialized in Child Protection of which I am a founding partner), and trying to convey all the nuances is always a challenge.

International Focusing Institute (The International Focusing Institute, the organization that coordinates at an international level the activities related to training and dissemination of Focusing) promotes “Conversations” (English) with Focusing professionals from around the world. Serge Prengel, a Focusing Trainer and Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapist whom I met at the International Focusing Conference 2016 Cambridge (United Kingdom), acts as host, and he does it in a very Focusing way - with an empathic reflex, with pauses, allowing new ideas to emerge and unfold at their own pace–.

In this “Conversation” you will find that we discuss topics such as the following:

• Violence as a stopped process (“Something would have to have happened to move the situation forward, but it didn't happen, so that the process is blocked”).
• Damage defines violence, and the damage is experienced from the body.
• Find a “handle” (“handle”) for violence (identify her) is the first step to get out of it: For this, it is necessary to become aware of the cultural patterns that make us normalize violence.
• The role of power in violence.
• Affection coupled with care as a way to avoid violence –and the bodily dimension that can be achieved through Focusing–.
• Detection and intervention in cases of violence in Child Protection.
• A message of hope regarding the possibilities of healing and transforming violence, and Focusing as a magnificent tool to do it.

And if you want to experience how to transform the experience of violence from the body through Focusing, I am available for specific sessions the for psychotherapy in Madrid.

I hope you can find some ideas that inspire your own experiential work on violence, and I would love to hear your reactions to it.

F. Javier Romeo-Biedma

Read this post in English