Books / Humanistic, existential & experiential
Focusing
In Focusing, first published in 1978, Eugene T. Gendlin describes a way of attending to an initially unclear bodily sense of a situation and sets out a series of focusing steps.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Eugene T. Gendlin
Edition: First edition (1978); revised Bantam edition (1981). Bantam lists ISBN 9780553278330 for its 1982 mass-market edition.
Publisher: Everest House
Edition year: 1978
Language and origin: English (Austria / United States)
Form and genre: Self-Help & Client Workbook
Level: Introductory
Historical era: 1960–1979 · Humanistic, Cognitive & Systemic Turn
Covers: Gendlin’s account of the bodily felt sense; The focusing process and its steps; The author’s account of a felt shift; Experiencing in psychotherapy process research
APA 7th reference: Gendlin, E. T. (1978). Focusing. Everest House.
What it is
First published in 1978, Focusing is a book for general readers by philosopher and psychologist Eugene T. Gendlin. It describes an approach to attending to bodily experience that he called focusing.
What it covers
Gendlin describes a felt sense as an initially unclear bodily sense of a situation. His approach invites a person to attend to it and find words or images that fit. The revised edition presents focusing as a sequence of steps.
Research and context
Gendlin’s approach grew alongside psychotherapy process research. A 2017 meta-analysis examined 10 studies of the Experiencing Scale and reported an association between in-session experiencing and therapy outcomes. This does not show that any single process determines an individual outcome or that the book itself is a proven treatment.
Reader level and educational scope
This is a self-help guide. Its theory and practices should be distinguished from evidence about particular clinical treatments. This entry is educational and does not provide individual advice.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Focusing-Oriented/Experiential Psychotherapy (Marion N. Hendricks, 2002)
Reference: Hendricks, M. N. (2002). Focusing-oriented/experiential psychotherapy. In D. J. Cain & J. Seeman (Eds.), Humanistic psychotherapies: Handbook of research and practice (pp. 221–251). American Psychological Association.
A chapter reviewing focusing-oriented and experiential psychotherapy. Its full text has not been checked for this entry.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: Gendlin describes focusing as a way of attending to a bodily felt sense and finding words or images that fit it. (The publisher describes the revised Bantam edition; the complete book has not been independently checked for this entry.) [Source 1: Gendlin, E. T. Focusing. Bantam mass-market edition.]
Claim 2: A 2017 meta-analysis of 10 studies involving 406 clients found a relationship between in-session experiencing and psychotherapy outcomes. (The association does not establish that focusing is required for success or that an individual outcome can be predicted in the first two sessions.) [Source 5: Pascual-Leone, A., & Yeryomenko, N. (2017). The client “experiencing” scale as a predictor of treatment outcomes: A meta-analysis on psychotherapy process. Psychotherapy Research, 27(6), 653–665.]
Sources and inspection notes
Gendlin, E. T. Focusing. Bantam mass-market edition.
Supports: Publisher record identifies the title, author, publisher, 1982 mass-market edition and ISBN. Its description outlines the approach; the full book was not checked.
Supports: Pending verification: Clinical textbook detailing how therapists integrate Focusing across psychodynamic, cognitive, and humanistic therapies.
Supports: Pending verification: Bibliographic record of a chapter on focusing-oriented and experiential psychotherapy; the full chapter has not been checked.
WorldCat. Focusing: First edition catalogue record.
Supports: First edition, author, publisher and 1978 publication.
Supports: Abstract reports a meta-analysis of 10 studies and 406 clients examining the association between experiencing scores and outcomes.