Getting Free

Join Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin for A Year of Untangling®

I’m Ready to Sign Up How This Helps

Getting Free

Join Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin for A Year of Untangling®

I’m Ready to Sign Up How This Helps

Are there places in your life that are impossibly stuck?

It’s not uncommon to feel there is an unbridgeable gap between how you want your life to be and how it is now.

You’ve tried everything you can think of to get unstuck. Being logical. Getting help. Working really hard. Even just giving up and settling for how things are.

Nothing works. Maybe you feel frustrated and hopeless. And you probably also feel inadequate, defective, and worthless… at least some of the time.

Most of what you’ve tried so far to get free has probably just made it worse.

But there’s hope…

There isn’t anything wrong with you. You are not defective or inadequate. Something is keeping you stuck.

You have a Tangle.

A Tangle is created by the life-saving attempts by Parts of you to deal with an impossible situation. Unfortunately, their efforts were mutually self-defeating.

When you’re inside a Tangle, all your thoughts and ideas, all your actions come from Parts. Parts can’t get us free from Tangles. They create and maintain Tangles! All the strategies of Parts just dig us in deeper. No wonder this all feels so impossible!

And yet… Untangling even your most stuck Tangles is possible.

Ready to Get Free? Register Here

When you’re inside a Tangle, all your thoughts and ideas, all your actions come from Parts. Parts can’t get us free from Tangles. They create and maintain Tangles! All the strategies of Parts just dig us in deeper. No wonder this all feels so impossible!

And yet… Untangling even your most stuck Tangles is possible.

Ready to Get Free? Register Here

We (Barbara and Ann) developed the Untangling® method over nearly 30 years of working with Tangles.

We created Untangling® when we were facing impossibly tough life issues that resisted all our attempts to change. We both desperately needed something that would make a difference.

What we learned made us rethink everything we knew about trauma and change… and Focusing. Drawing from the experiences of our clients, students, and ourselves, along with our deep study of Gendlin’s ground-breaking Philosophy of the Implicit, we created Untangling®.

In Getting Free, you’ll get our guidance on how to move through the places in your life that feel completely and impossibly stuck.

We know from experience that life can be better because…

When your Tangle shifts… everything shifts.

Your life opens up in surprising ways. You feel more at ease being yourself. You free your abilities and gifts so that you are effortlessly more authentic, creative, emotionally available, playful, loving, compassionate.

You become more fully and freely yourself, and confident in your ability to meet new Tangles.

What could be better than that?

“When your Tangles untangle, you become vibrantly alive, feeling whole, comfortable in your own skin, living your own life.”

– Barbara & Ann

What is Getting Free: A Year of Untangling® all about?

Getting Free is an in-depth program to support you through a whole year of Untangling®.

Tangles are tough. Untangling needs time. Time for developing new abilities, trying them out in your life, and getting help with your questions and challenges as you practice your new skills.

It’s important to have steady, ongoing support so that these new ways of living can take root.

In this program, you’ll be with the two of us and a community of other Untanglers for inspiration and encouragement. You’ll learn our whole method and our cutting-edge theory, and you’ll have personalized support for your ongoing journey with your Tangles.

Best of all, you have what you need to meet new Tangles as you encounter them.

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“I used to feel lost, frustrated, and hopeless at times because it was hard for me to be in touch with my inner life to the degree and with the quality I wanted. I now have hope and confidence that I can find resolutions – ones I never could’ve imagined – to the issues in my life and how I hold them.“

– Annie F.

3 Steps to Getting Free

Strengthen Your Powers
As you master the five Powers of Presence, you become the environment of transformation for your Tangles.

Your Tangle Transforms
Within that environment, your Tangle transforms itself in spontaneous and unexpected way.

Confidently Embrace Your Life
Find yourself living in ways you couldn’t even imagine from inside your Tangle.

Ready to Get Free? Register Here

This is advanced training:
You’ll need Path to Lasting Change, Parts One and Two or the equivalent in order to join us.

“Being healthy isn’t having no problems, it’s having new problems.”

― Gene Gendlin

Gene Gendlin photo

Seasons of Change

Base Camp

To engage with your Tangle at the level that brings real change, you need to radically strengthen your Powers of Presence. You’ll receive a thorough grounding in the first three Powers: The Power of Cultivating Self-in-Presence, The Power of And, and the Power of Deep Empathy. By the end of Base Camp, you will be well equipped to move to the next stage of Untangling.

Week 1 – Taking up the Challenge
Week 2 – Showing Up as Your Biggest Self
Week 3 – As Big as Montana
Week 4 – Deeply Listening
Week 5 – Deeply Understanding
Week 6 – Deeply Loving

Into the Maze

Living in a Tangle is like being lost in a maze. You think you’ve finally found the way out and then realize you’re actually going around in circles. There are dead ends everywhere. During this season, you’ll discover how every dead end is a doorway to transformation and you’ll learn the keys to unlocking those doorways.

Week 7 – Lost in the Maze
Week 8 – “Did I just do that?”
Week 9 – “Who’s pulling my strings?”
Week 10 – “Who’s that hiding in the bushes?”
Week 11 – “This is never going to work!”
Week 12 – Widening the Horizon of Possibility

Diving Beneath the Surface

At the heart of every Tangle there is a frozen core: something impossible to think, or to feel, or to do. In this season, you will learn two new Powers that enable you to be with what has been impossible – so that your Tangle can shift and you find yourself spontaneously taking your next steps of life.

Week 13 – Diving Deep
Week 14 – Dancing with the Dragon of Despair
Week 15 – Desperately Evading the Abyss
Week 16 – True Love
Week 17 – Touching the Frozen Core
Week 18 – Life Emerging

Into the World

As your Tangles untangle, and your life starts to open in unexpected ways, you will find yourself faced with new challenges. Whether they’re in your work, or your relationships, or your creative endeavors, you can embrace these challenges as precious opportunities for even more growth. In this season, you’ll explore what becomes possible as you feel stronger and more confident in your powers, able to meet whatever life brings.

Week 19 – Easier – and Harder
Week 20 – It Takes Two to Tangle
Week 21 – Dancing with the Mystery
Week 22 – Life Beyond Tangles?
Week 23 – Bring It On, World!
Week 24– Getting Free

Base Camp

Taking up the Challenge
As you begin “base camp” you take up the challenge of strengthening your Powers of Presence and begin engaging with your Tangles. You meet fellow “Untanglers” who share your journey through the rocky and steep roads ahead, and you begin to get to know your Tangle.

Showing Up as Your Biggest Self
Tangles need you to be larger than they are. You develop your ability to stay grounded in Self-in-Presence as you interact with your Tangle. You cultivate inner and outer resources that strengthen your ability to engage with your Tangle as your largest Self. You learn what to do when embodying Self-in-Presence is hard.

As Big as Montana
Tangles are always multi-parted. This week, you develop your ability to become the space that the Parts in your Tangle need. This enables multiple Parts to be welcomed and equally valued… so that the next steps can happen.

Deeply Listening
The Parts in your Tangle need empathy and relationship. During the next three meetings we will be exploring the Power of Deep Empathy. With this Power, you’re able to relate to the Parts that you find in your Tangle in the way that each Part needs so that something radically new can happen.
This week, we focus on how to enable Parts to express their deepest fears and hopes for you.

Deeply Understanding
Different kinds of Parts present different kinds of challenges to you as Self-in-Presence. Those Parts are faced with different kinds of challenges themselves. This week we explore what Protector and Defender-type Parts are like, how they behave, and how to respond to the different kinds of challenges they present.

Deeply Loving
This week, you go even deeper. You learn about the qualities and needs of a third type of Part, the Small One. You explore the transformational power of developing a relationship with any Part, especially with Small Ones. And you get ready to transition into the next season, which is about the tough things Parts in a Tangle put you through, and how to meet those challenges.

Into the Maze

Lost in the Maze
When you are inside a Tangle, “hijacks” and “takeovers” by Parts are everywhere. It’s confusing to know where you are, what is happening, and what can be trusted. You’ll learn to recognize these patterns so you grow in your ability to respond when you find yourself entangled in them.

“Did I just do that?”
Sometimes you become identified with a Defender or Small One so quickly that you find yourself acting before there is any reflective awareness as Self-in-Presence. We call that being “hijacked.” You’ll learn how to recognize when that’s happening and how to cultivate Self-in-Presence so that you are in the driver’s seat instead of being driven by a Part. You’ll develop your ability to create a relationship with hijacking Parts so that hijack happens less and less often.

“Who’s pulling my strings?”
When a Protector takes over, its beliefs and feelings can seem to be our own. Protectors can hide in plain sight by masquerading as Self-in-Presence. You learn how to recognize and respond to these “takeovers” so that worried Protector Parts get the kind of relationship they truly need in order to transform.

“Who’s that hiding in the bushes?”
Many things that are mysterious about our Tangles become clear when we realize that some Parts are operating invisibly. In a Tangle, Parts can have impacts and effects without our being able to perceive them directly. You learn how to detect invisible Parts and how to develop relationships with them so they can transform.

“This is never going to work!”
Many Parts are scared of what might happen if you get close to the core of the Tangle. They have lots of strategies to stop you in your tracks, including saying, “This is never going to work.” You learn to recognize their strategies and cultivate relationships with these worried Parts so that they trust you to be OK as you get near the core of the Tangle.

Widening the Horizon of Possibility
You further develop your capacity to be a wide open space, a welcoming environment where your whole Tangle can be just as it is. You learn how to get a felt sense of your whole Tangle. A fresh experience of how the whole thing is now forms. You are, in this new moment, already living beyond the Tangle in ways that couldn’t happen before.

Diving Beneath the Surface

Diving Deep
As you find your way to the core of a Tangle, you encounter Parts that have been frozen in time, unable to live forward. In this season, you’ll strengthen your capacity to be the Transformational Environment of Self-in-Presence for what feels impossibly stuck. You learn how to take each of the Powers of Presence to a deeper level so that you can provide what these Parts need and fill in what they are missing.

Desperately Evading the Abyss
When a desperate Small One gets loose in the world, and sees a chance to get what it longs for, it can behave in ways that disregard both reality and other people. You’ll learn why trying to give a desperate Small One what it believes it needs keeps you trapped in the Tangle… and how to be what the Small One really needs instead.

True Love
Trauma is at the heart of every Tangle. A key element of Untangling is becoming the healing environment for what has been traumatized. Discover how to create a trustworthy relationship with Parts that are frozen, still living in the time of the trauma. And learn a way of responding to them that enables them to live forward again.

Touching the Frozen Core
As you dive deep to the core of the Tangle, you come to an experience we call the Point of Stoppage. You’ll learn about the nature of the Point of Stoppage and why treating it as a Part will be ineffective – and what to do instead. When you can bring awareness to what has not yet been formed, and stand how uncomfortable that is, whole system shifts become possible.

Dancing with the Dragon of Despair
When Parts have been struggling for what seems like forever to get out of a Tangle, they can become deeply discouraged and despairing. They are afraid the reality is this is never going to change. That you are essentially broken and can never heal. That you don’t have what it takes to live fully and freely. As you learn to dance with these Dragons, they begin to hope again.

Life Emerging
Your unlived life has always been ready to live forward again. It’s just been waiting for the right conditions. The good news is that you can create those conditions. Using the Powers of Presence, you meet the needs of your entangled Parts. You hold a space for new life to emerge. As you begin to live beyond the Tangle, you sense what is possible now that was not possible before.

Into the World

Easier – and Harder
As your Tangle loosens, some things will get easier, allowing you to welcome bigger challenges in your life. As you develop your ability to meet the new challenges that arise when life starts to get more free, your confidence in your ability to encounter new problems grows. You now know that what seems to be a setback is a precious opportunity for further growth.

It Takes Two to Tangle
Tangles always involve other people. Everybody has Parts. In our closest relationships, our Parts often mutually entangle. You learn to recognize when things in a relationship are getting “Parts-y.” You learn how to stay grounded or return to Self-in-Presence when Parts get triggered.

Dancing with the Mystery
Every interaction you have is a fabulous opportunity for relating from Self-in-Presence to the other person’s largest Self. As you live more and more from Self-in-Presence, you experience the difference between Parts-y reactions and being responsive. You’ll know from your core that taking responsibility for your actions includes taking responsibility for the actions of your Parts.

Life Beyond Tangles?
Is there such a thing as life beyond Tangles? Well, it’s not “everything is easy now.” It is not being all done and finished. It’s not Nirvana, or Heaven. It doesn’t mean getting everything you want. Perhaps life beyond Tangles is really two things: Living your whole life more and more from Self-in-Presence, and having the capacity to respond to stoppages as they occur so that interaction becomes freely available again.

Bring It On, World!
As you live from Self-in-Presence more and more, you can be comfortable with being uncomfortable. When Parts arise (and they will), you recognize they are there and are able to turn toward them. Your capacity to enter into and engage with life – whatever happens – deepens and strengthens.

Getting Free
Profound transformation happens in magical and paradoxical ways, unpredictably yet always in the direction of living freely. Doing this work in community is deeply nourishing. During this year you have created connections that can sustain and support you as you go forward. When your Tangle shifts, your life opens up in surprising ways. You free your abilities and gifts so that you are effortlessly more authentic, creative, emotionally available, playful, loving, compassionate…

24 Live Meetings (Online)

Ann and Barbara meet with the group to offer supportive guidance with your Tangles. You benefit from listening along with other participants’ processes and feel other people’s encouragement for your own.

Partnership

Focusing partnership with other Getting Free participants is a key part of the program. There is a specific partnership practice for each module supported by a written exercise and video demonstrating the exercise. You can choose to have a different partner each time or stay with the same partner for longer.

In Depth Handouts

For each module, there is a comprehensive handout by Ann and Barbara which includes stories, examples, and explanations of the Untangling® process. This means class time can be used almost entirely for coaching you in how to apply the process to your Tangle.

 Online Community

Stay connected to other group members and Barbara and Ann. Experience group support whenever you need it on a private, password-protected online community space where you can share your process, your insights, and your questions.

“In every tough situation I can be curious. Even in the hardest times, I know I’m OK.”

– Ann Weiser Cornell

Are You Ready to Get Free?

Discover how you can be with the challenges in your life in a healthy, supportive way (and why that changes everything)

Scholarships

We’re committed to making this course as diverse and accessible as possible.

Enroll for Your Course Here

Getting Free course

Getting Free: A Year of Untangling

$2,325.00

March 31, 2026 to February 23, 2027
2026: Mar 31, Apr 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, Jun 9, 16, 30, Jul 7, 21, 28, Sept 1, 15, 29, Oct 13, 27, Nov 10, Dec 1, 15
2027: Jan 12, 26, Feb 9, 23

24 Tuesdays; 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific
Taught by Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin

Pay in full or six installments

Last Day to Register: March 24

Additional details

How payplans work

Installment plans include processing fees. To set up your payment plan, choose the option labeled “PAYMENT PLAN OPTION” during checkout, then the Place Order button.

This is advanced training: You’ll need Your Path to Lasting Change, Part Two or the equivalent in order to join us.

Not sure? I’d love to chat with you about it! Just click here to set up a free 20-minute call or Zoom meeting with me.

What People Are Saying

The testimonials below are about our Untangling work, which we offer in six-day retreats and in the Getting Free course.

Taught me HOW to love myself

“Before the Getting Free course, my biggest challenge was an awareness that I always felt like I was bad, wrong somehow, but I didn’t know really, what to do about it. And I knew I carried so much hurt and shame from an abusive childhood. It left me feeling defeated and hopeless.

I’d been trying to feel good about myself for decades, but nothing brought me the relief I was seeking. Getting Free taught me HOW to love myself. HOW to be with every Part of myself. And I’m now feeling so much more comfortable in my own skin — something I’d always longed for. The difference is like night and day! I feel so much more at peace and at home in the world. Like I belong here too, and that I’m okay.

Before the course, I was getting triggered constantly, throwing me back into the pain of the rejection I felt as a child. Now when I get triggered, I know I need to turn towards this Younger Me and give her the presence and company that she needs. And in my “outer” life I’m experiencing so much connection and closeness in my relationships – what I’ve always longed for but seemed impossible for me to ever have.

As I’ve been writing here I’m so aware of how different and much more free, comfortable, and joyful my life has become, and in such a short time! I so appreciate this class!”
Lily R.

Worth the price of admission

“I have felt called from the time I was very young. I’ve taught several different spiritual practices over the last 50 years. I’ve been an ordained minister. And yet I’ve struggled with an internal battle between my fear of “being the one,” and my desperate wanting to “be the one”—to be able to answer the call. That struggle has been instrumental in me walking away from all the teacher/leadership roles I have held in the past. So, when I enrolled in Getting Free: A Year of Untangling it came up again in full force.

What’s changed? Everything. The emphasis from the very beginning on cultivating Self-in-Presence, on turning toward everything that’s here with curiosity, compassion, acceptance and WITHOUT judgment allowed me not to be afraid of my fear or my longing and to listen to them both. That, in itself, was worth the price of admission. Over the weeks and months of the course, deepening the practice of turning toward, of being with EVERYTHING that’s here with calm patience, with that curiosity, compassion, acceptance, and non-judgment gave me new hope, new courage, and new clarity. I could see my way forward. And finishing the course coincided with some of the final elements in my Certification training where I had the opportunity to teach. And I loved it! From the calm and curious, compassionate, and accepting space of Self-in-Presence I could see that being the one is not so overwhelming. I can be the one who I am. And that’s enough. That’s my calling.

While this wasn’t something I specifically “worked on” during Getting Free: A Year of Untangling, one of the things my partner has said is most noticeable is how much less likely I am to get angry over small, irritating frustrations. Like my struggle with being the one, my temper is something else that I have battled with from the time that I was young. I’ve largely tried to hold apart or exile my anger rather than face it in the moment. So it tends to build up pressure and explode. But the practice of cultivating Self-in-Presence taught in Getting Free, and then turning toward everything that’s here from that curious and compassionate place has an ever-widening rippling effect not just on those specific things we work on, but on all aspects of our living. Now, weeks after completing the course and on the cusp of starting a new year-long cycle of Getting Free as an assistant, I look forward to exploring more of what’s here for me, including inviting out of exile the old angers I had been too afraid of or mistrusting of to look in the eye and say, “Hello, I know you’re here. And I’m here with you to listen.”
Colin Berg

Safe, respectful, and deeply compassionate

“Before Getting Free I experienced feelings of emptiness and directionlessness which left me feeling lost, confused, and wondering what the point of it all is… Now, I’m starting to know my own value and uniqueness — to experience the transformative possibilities of that knowing on my sense of how I want to live my life. I also get triggered less often and when I do, it’s usually less intense. I don’t go into downward spirals of rumination and negative emotion so much anymore.

This course felt safe, respectful, and deeply compassionate. There was never any sense of needing to push past anything inside me or to go faster than felt safe. On the contrary — I learned radical, loving, and life-enhancing ways of working with parts other modalities might call ‘resistant’ or ‘avoidant.’ I’ve learned a deep respect for these parts that are so often shamed and shunned. This course showed me that these parts hold potential life-energy that can be released once I know how to be with them.

I am in awe of the discoveries Ann and Barbara have made and how they share them so skillfully.”
sunflower
Jane

I keep finding treasures (inside) that are so nourishing…

“Before Getting Free, I wondered if it was possible to feel comfortable in my own skin without feeling any regret. Now, I can be with myself with care, interest, empathy, and total acceptance. I feel very confident I can gently approach whatever shows up in me to be heard and felt. There’s an inner knowing of how to be with myself that was not there before. I’ve discovered how beautiful and gentle I am and I have a deeper sense of belonging. I keep finding treasures that are so nourishing and I feel like I’m making a difference in the world.”
Micheline G.

I feel more alive…and wonder what else is possible

“Before Getting Free, my biggest challenge was knowing I was about to turn 50 and feeling stuck in my work life. It made me feel so small, powerless, and vulnerable. I believed that if I lost my job, I wouldn’t be able to get another one. Before the course, I was unable to advertise my counseling service and didn’t bring in the clients to build my private practice. Now, I’m able to receive my husband’s offer to help me run Google ad campaigns. Just in recent weeks, I’ve brought in three new clients. I’d been running with only 1 for the last two years. Now, I feel more alive! It feels like the private practice of my dreams is achievable. Now I’m able to wonder what else is possible for my life!”
Susi West Moreau

A real life-changing experience

“The Getting Free course was a real life-changing experience. During this year, much of the drama in my personal life has transformed into more manageable and more substantial relationships, with my family, friends, and in the workplace. I can deal better with the events my life brings to me. And best of all, I wake up in the morning with a feeling of relaxed calm. And having a supportive community going forward is something I am deeply grateful for. Thank you, Ann and Barbara, for building a Focusing community!”
Andreas G.

This course has given me my life back

“Before Getting Free something in me felt so overwhelmed it didn’t know how to live on. That left me feeling drained and like I was really struggling. Now I’m able to be more present and hold space for everything that needs me inside. I experience more joy, especially in small things. And I think it’s making me a better therapist as I can listen more deeply to my clients’ struggles and be really present. This course has given me my life back. I’m able to access aspects of myself that have been lifeless and felt abandoned. I am blown away by how this method approaches the tough areas of life with gentle precision.“
Ute Rosenbauer

A beautiful and generous gift to humanity

“The most significant contribution this deep process of Untangling made to my life – and there are many – was helping me to free myself from the burden related to my family of origin. Thanks to taking part in this course, that deep place of pain in me has been healed and I no longer hold the grudge against my father. To me it sounds miraculous that I have finally forgiven both of my parents.

I feel more present in the now, more calm and at ease with myself and more engaged in my daily living. 

Speaking from my personal experience, calling this course Getting Free is very well justified. There is clearly my life before and my life after the Untangling course. The process of Untangling is a beautiful and generous gift to humanity and I am happy for everyone who embarks on this profoundly deep healing journey, even as I wish more people knew of it!”
Jacek Kaleta

Enormously liberating

“Before Getting Free, my tangle invaded every aspect of my life. I felt stuck and frustrated. This sometimes showed up in self-sabotaging ways that kept me from moving forward. During the course, I was finally able to complete a project that had been stalled for a long time. And I also increased my capacity to pause and recognize when aspects of my tangle are activated. That’s been enormously liberating for me. What a beautiful gift this course is…“
Kelly V.

A catalyst in my healing journey

“Before Getting Free, I avoided certain emotions like pain and hurt. And trying to ‘make sense of it all’ was elusive. That left me feeling overwhelmed, resigned, and trying various things hoping something would stick. Now, I have a framework to ‘hold it all’ – the parts that don’t want me to feel something, parts that use well-worn strategies, and parts that are frozen in time unable to tell the past from the present. The wounds of my past are still there, but there’s also a clear sense of direction that I find helpful. This course has been such a catalyst in my healing journey.“
L.B.

It’s so much easier for difficult emotional states to release

“Before Getting Free, I felt out of control trying to meet my expectations of myself. And that left me feeling ashamed, frustrated, and anxious. It was hard to make decisions and move forward. I was always afraid of failing. The worst part was not trusting myself.

So far what has changed is: It’s easier to pause and sense for what needs attention, to be big enough for what’s going on inside. Before, there was an urgency to get to the bottom of whatever discomfort I was experiencing in the moment and fix it.

Now, I experience life as a process that moves as I relate to my parts with open, curious energy. It’s so much easier for stress, difficult emotional states, and even physical pain to release through the practice of caring relationship.“
B.R.

Felt like turning a light on inside and really seeing what’s been hidden

“I’d been feeling overwhelmed, stuck, and frightened of navigating ongoing patterns and life issues. That left me feeling anxious and disconnected from myself. In the course, I developed a true understanding of the layers of experience at play in my psyche. It felt like turning a light on inside and really seeing what’s been hidden from view. 

Now, I have more self-compassion and a sense of myself as able to be a container for all that’s there. Getting Free helps you gain a deep, authentic, and experiential understanding of patterns, blocks, beliefs, defenses, and behaviors that, until now, have been activating and shaping life unconsciously. That awareness enables you to live forward in a new way.“
Nati Porat

This is really deep work and there are treasures to be found through it

“Before Getting Free I found it hard to look at what felt like my unloved self. It felt like there was something my fault and unchangeable at the same time. I kept running after how others wanted me to be or what I thought they might want. I believed that must feel better somehow, but I was also never able to arrive at ‘feeling better.’ Now, I feel less tension, pressure, and nervousness. I can experience an idea of my present self — its strength, calmness, warmth, and dignity. I’m more able to be here without being ‘too much’ or ‘too little.’ This is really deep work and there are treasures to be found through it.“
Marcia

It shifted something profound inside me

“Before Getting Free, it was hard for me to let any part of me experience anger, even if there was good reason for that anger to be there. It always felt like I was turning into my mother and there were so many inner prohibitions against that. The first time I was able to be with a part of me that was furious and just sit for 45 minutes listening compassionately to how it was for her — to what it was that made her so mad — felt like a miracle. And it shifted something profound inside me. 

Now, I trust myself more — I can be with angry parts and not react from or banish those emotions. I can be loving and present with angry feelings and know that I will, in fact, not turn into my mother. It sounds like such a simple thing, yet it makes so many other things possible that were never possible before…and I am deeply grateful for that.”
Shannon

Enables me to navigate and respond better when I experience conflict

“Before Getting Free my biggest challenge was situations where I felt inner conflict — where I wasn’t sure how to engage with something. It created a lot of disabling anxiety in me. Now, when these situations occur, I feel a lot more able to turn toward and stay with my inner experience of them. I can discover and discern deeper resonances inside myself in relation to the situations and in relation to the wider context of my life. All of that enables me to navigate and respond better when I experience conflict. The course has been really helpful.”
Stephen J.

Now, I can express myself or remain silent — my choice

“Before Getting Free my biggest challenge was adding my voice to the world. I’d freeze or my words would dry up mid-sentence. That left me feeling inadequate, frustrated, and ashamed. Now, I feel comfortable in my own shoes and able to express myself or remain silent — my choice. My year of Getting Free has been about developing inner resources to accept with open arms, the places within me that had been trying to keep me silent. Now I can listen to their fears with warmth and empathy.”
D.W.

I’m happier

“Before Getting Free I was dealing with low self-esteem and a part of me that felt fearful of life. The course helped me gain more awareness of Self-in-Presence and understanding of my fearful part. Now, I’m happier. I smile more and I can greet others with an open heart.”
Ann M.

I feel greater comfort and ease

“Getting Free touched my conflicts and my experience of myself more completely and deeply than any other Focusing course. Before the course, I’d been putting things off that needed to be done and things I wanted to accomplish. That left me feeling frustrated and puzzled. During the course, I became aware of how I was holding myself back from living fully. And I became more aware of and better able to be with the parts of my tangle from a calm sense of self. Now, I feel greater comfort and ease.”
Charles Herr

I now have hope and confidence

“I used to feel lost, frustrated, and hopeless at times because it was hard for me to be in touch with my inner life to the degree and with the quality I wanted. I now have hope and confidence that I can find resolutions – ones I never could’ve imagined – to the issues in my life and how I hold them.”
Annie F.

The only thing that has really helped me to change

“Before Getting Free, my biggest challenge was an inability to move forward on the many projects I’d like to accomplish. That left me feeling stuck and unable to change. Now, in all kinds of little ways, I’m able to move forward.

It used to feel like some invisible worry was drawing all my energy. Now there’s more energy for all the projects I want to do.

The focusing technique is the only thing that has really helped me to change. I like how respectful the technique is — it doesn’t presume superior knowledge about the client — it uses the client’s own deep knowledge of their issues to gradually resolve them.”
Sharon P.

I no longer abandon myself at the first sign of conflict

“Before Getting Free, I felt like a failure, as if I’d been hiding behind a perfection-driven protector, distant from myself and others. I felt like an imposter, small and without agency or purpose. Now, I have a better sense of how to be in relationship with myself and all the parts that have been misguidedly working for my good. I’m forging an ability to get a “feel” for situations and trust my observations/felt senses. I no longer abandon myself at the first sign of conflict. 

An image comes of a low drone, a constant white noise that was my internal experience. I’d experienced it for so long I didn’t even hear it anymore. It demanded my attention, but the decision to give it my attention was unconscious.

The Getting Free demonstrations, readings, and exercises enabled me to turn toward that internal noise and be with it. To choose to listen to it, raise the volume, and then allow it to subside. I’m learning to stop fighting with ‘it’ and with what ‘is’ for me. And in the words of Robert Frost, ‘that has made all the difference.’“
Angie Parmer

Getting Free may be one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself

“Several big pivotal things shifted for me during the course. One of the key ones was a tendency to compulsively and habitually worry about a particular problem. I’d try to make sense of it through some kind of logic. I’m not saying the worrying has completely gone. But it has a gentler footprint in me now and I know it serves a purpose — it’s trying to help keep me safe. 

After taking the Getting Free course, I’m able to be with challenges in my life in a supportive healthy way. And I’m really aware of how effective and pragmatic the Untangling method is, especially for the impossible things that are hard to work with. Getting Free may be one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself!“
Sebastian R.

I feel more confident overall

“Before Getting Free, my biggest challenge was finding a compassionate way to spend time with my inner critic and get in touch with the part of me that feels like she’s never good enough. Now, the belief of not being good enough has reduced in intensity and other parts are less reactive. I feel more confident overall to try new things, to feel vulnerable, to be imperfect, and most of all, to feel what it feels like to love myself. I learned a lot about the relationship dynamics of parts within me, why they are the way they are, and gained a deeper appreciation for myself, my journey, and for others.”
Antoinette B.

Gave me powerful techniques that are helping me

“Taking Getting Free gave me powerful techniques that are helping me in my life. Before the course, I often felt anxious, ashamed, and guilty about not having a clean organized environment. Now I have methods to explore and deal with such feelings. I’m not nearly as anxious as in the past. Another amazing result of taking the course was the end of compulsive eating. I continue to do Focusing on the issues in my tangle and am resolving more of them.”
sunflower
Carol J.

Getting Free is the most amazing journey into yourself

“My biggest challenge before the Getting Free course was my inability to accept remarks I didn’t like or agree with without getting emotionally upset. I felt very frustrated by how frequently I got upset and how badly it affected me. Now, there are moments where I’m more aware of my reactions. Times when I’m able to stop myself just before I lose my calm. Sometimes I’m able to stop right after I react emotionally and I can regain my calm much faster than I used to. I’m also more aware of my environment and can take in what is there and what feels good. Getting Free is the most amazing journey into yourself and Ann and Barbara are simply splendid teachers and Focusing guides.“
A.S.

There are more options and choices available to me…

“”Before Getting Free my biggest challenge was a sense of something being wrong or ‘I haven’t done this right’. That left me feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Now, I have the resources to check in with myself and my parts. I can sense if there’s a younger part of me in the driver seat or is it the adult me. How I view and interact with situations is different. My life has more ease and a broader lens to look through. Somehow I feel as if there are more options and choices available to me. I’m very grateful to Ann and Barbara for the richness of this course. I know I’ve changed and I’m so glad I invested the time and money in this truly life-changing course.”“
L.E.

Forward movement is possible

“Before Getting Free, I’d been stuck for several years in a tangle involving mourning my mother while caring for her, and a roomful of boxes containing her correspondence, books, and other possessions. That left me feeling frozen, frustrated, and alone. During the course, I was able to turn toward all the parts that were and are hurting and be with them. I was able to deal with a lot of the stuff. There is always more inner work to be done, but it’s a relief to have the tools and to know that forward movement is possible.“
E.A.

From frustrated and confused to calm and optimistic…

“Before Getting Free, I had problems with my temper and emotional regulation. I didn’t believe in myself and I didn’t know how to get to know myself. I had a lot of mental blocks and limiting beliefs. I wasn’t aware of what I really needed. I was just surviving and pleasing people… All that left me feeling frustrated and confused.

Now, I know ME. I know what happens inside me and what I expect from myself. I know what to do and where to go. I’m not clueless anymore. I feel content, calm, and optimistic. I’m so grateful for everything I’ve learned!”
Back View of Woman Sitting on Rocks on Sea Shore at Sunset
Raden Prisya

Meet Your Teachers

Ann Weiser Cornell

Ann Weiser Cornell struggled with painful addiction, anxiety in social situations, and an inability to do the thing she most wanted to do – write.

Ann created Inner Relationship Focusing with her long-time colleague, Barbara McGavin, to help alleviate the thinking and feeling cycles that kept her stuck in hard places. It changed her life, and it became her mission to help others create quiet miracles in their lives too.

For over 35 years now, Ann’s been teaching this practical, revolutionary process to people all over the world.

Barbara McGavin
Barbara McGavin

Barbara McGavin’s greatest joy is exploring the frontiers of the Focusing process – what it is and how it can be applied in daily life.

Since 1991, she has been developing Inner Relationship Focusing with Ann Weiser Cornell. Since 1994, the two of them have been exploring Focusing in some of the most difficult areas of life. Untangling™ has grown out of this and is the core of Barbara’s own Focusing practice.

Barbara’s other great interest is in how Focusing can be used in the creative arts. She has developed a process called From Spark to Beacon to help people develop and release their creative capacities.

Additional Information

How Online Courses Work

We use Zoom, an online video conference platform, to connect you to other students and the teacher. Before the class starts you will receive a Zoom link to use each time the class meets. You can join us via your camera-equipped computer, tablet, or smart phone. Prefer not to be on video? You can turn off your camera. Don’t want to call via computer? You can call in by phone. Zoom is free and easy to use. You will be able to sign on in advance to make sure you can access it, but we’ve had very few problems with it. Students also receive access to a private webpage where course materials can be found.

We use an online course content platform, to provide your course materials, recordings, and a discussion forum. During the checkout process, you’ll be invited to create an account (if you don’t already have one) or your course will be added to your existing account. Please be sure to watch for this step and contact our Customer Happiness Manager right away if you don’t see it.

Prerequisite

This is advanced training: You’ll need four Levels of Focusing (now taught under the name Path to Lasting Change, Parts One and Two), or a 6-day Treasure Maps retreat, in order to join us.

Continuing Education Credit& Record of Completion

Course meets the qualifications for 48 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. Focusing Resources, CAMFT Approved CE Provider #62524

Focusing Resources is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs. Focusing Resources maintains responsibility for this course and its content.

There is a $25 administrative fee for CE Credits. Records of Completion are awarded at the end of the course upon completion of all requirements and the course evaluation. (If you don’t want CE Credits but would like a Record of Completion, the $25 fee does still apply.)

Eligibility for CE Credits requires at least 80% live attendance. Missed classes must be made up.

Program Cancellation Policy

Up to 14 days before the first day of class: Just let us know and we’ll refund your course fee. Or you can choose to apply the entire course fee towards a future class with us.

Cancellations received 13 days or fewer before class begins: No refund, sorry.

When Something Doesn’t Go As You’d Hoped…

We are always open to discussing experiences with our courses that didn’t work for you or didn’t go the way you expected. Depending on the circumstances, you may want to email your course instructor, the staff member in charge of your course, or Ann Weiser Cornell. Email addresses for all these people will be supplied on registration. We will work with you to find a way to meet your needs.

Got Questions? We’ve Got Your Answers…

This is a participatory partnership class and your presence at most of the classes is important, but there is no precise number of classes you need to attend — unless you want CE Credits, in which case you need to attend 80% of the classes and make up any missed classes. Every class will be recorded and the recordings will be available to every registered participant.

To respect the confidentiality and privacy of our participants we do not provide video recordings of our classes. All recordings are provided as audio files.

Yes, that would be possible. You would not be able to receive CE Credits but you could participate in class discussions using the online forum, and you would be able to be in partnerships.

There is nothing like meeting in person! We love doing retreats because of the power of an in-person group in a beautiful place in the world. That said, the down-side of a retreat is that you go home in a week… and except for Focusing partnerships and emails, you are basically on your own. We’ve been longing for a way to support people over time to make the Untangling™ process a deep and enduring part of their lives.

We offer this course once a year starting in April, typically on Tuesday mornings Pacific Time.

Each class you’ll get new teaching, including theory, examples, and specific language for taking a partner through the process we are learning about. There are also handouts each week written especially for this course. There’s an experiential component to every class. You’ll have an assigned partner each week, and you can tell us if you’re not available that week, or if there is someone particular you’d like to work with.

Can’t find an answer?