The Potential Psychological Advantages of the Focusing-Oriented Therapy: A Pilot Quasiexperimental Study of “Proficiency as Focusing Partner” Training Workshop on Self-Compassion

Abstract

Background: Focusing therapy, formulated by Eugene Gendlin (1969), is a body-centered technique that targets bodily sensations and aims at promoting self-care, self-awareness, and self-soothing. Focusing therapy helps people to be more aware of their inner feelings, achieve peace with a purpose without being overwhelmed by anxiety or depression, and enhance mindfulness and self-compassion. Focusing is therefore seen as a tool for developing self-compassion, thereby focusing on our inner feelings and needs and embracing and acknowledging our inner senses. However, there is a dearth of research on practical focusing therapy training workshops for general adults. Therefore, this study aims to be the first research study to investigate the effect of a complete four-level focusing-oriented workshop on self-compassion.

Method: Participants in this study were recruited using convenience sampling, specifically targeting those who had applied for the “Proficiency in Focusing Partnership” training workshop. 16 participants applied and actively engaged in all four levels of the workshop. Participants were asked to complete the questionnaire after finishing the second, third, and fourth levels of the workshop to analyze the influence of different levels of the workshop. The one-way repeated-measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the continuous changes in self-compassion across the three time points within the group.

Results and Conclusion: This pilot study addresses the lack of research on focusing therapy training workshops for the general population. The findings suggest that the “Proficiency in Focusing Partnership” training workshop can significantly improve self-compassion, mainly by reducing negative self-compassion. However, further development of evidence-based focusing-oriented interventions is needed.