Focusing ability in psychotherapy personality, and creativity.

Abstract

However, Bergman's (1951) study anticipated process variables and was groundbreaking for later developments. Bergman correlated different types of therapist response with different types of ensuing client statements. The type of client statement termed "self

Imagery

“…~his focusing process is the essence of psychotherapeutic change--it is a specific series of steps, newly defined, for what happens at those moments when a person actually changes in a concrete way. Unless change occurs unmistaka!>ly in the body, it does not, in my opinion, occur at all (Gendlin, 1968). But now can there !>e change in people anyway?…”

Concepts, Results, and Applications

“…A consistent finding of outcome psychotherapy research, supportive of Jourard's contention, is that clients who are able to tune in to bodily-felt experiencing at the outset of therapy are also most likely to benefit from psychotherapy (Gendlin et al, 1968). It appears, therefore, that a high degree of somatic perception is important for the accurate appraisal of the effects of our environment upon us.…”

“…The hypothesis guiding this presentation is that nonevaluative self-directed attention, especially toward bodily kinesthetic events, may serve as a source of imagery that is perceived to representationally fit, intensify, and sometimes change those bodily feelings. The phenomenology of this process, called focusing, has been articulated by Gendlin (1978), who has emphasized its apparent role in psychotherapy (Gendlin, 1977;Gendlin, Beebe, Cassens, Klein, & Oberlander, 1968). Regardless of context, however, focusing is a process of imagery-guided or enhanced (Gendlin & Olson, 1970) change in self-feeling, of the conditions for which we have little concrete understanding.…”

Integrating Spiritual Experiences in Counseling

“…Furthermore, the unsuccessful clients did not improve, over time, from undergoing therapy. Both the successful and the unsuccessful clients could be identified in the first few audiotaped therapy sessions (Gendlin, 1969)by using the Experiencing scale (Gendlin, Beebe, Cassens, Klein, & Oberlander, 1967). Gendlin developed a method to teach unsuccessful clients to "attend inside" in this special way and so become successful in therapy.…”