Your Path to Lasting Change

Live, Online Inner Relationship Focusing Training Program

Fall in love with all of you, even parts that feel stuck, anxious, sad, stressed, misunderstood…

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Ready for Part Two of our program? Click here to sign up.

What’s holding you back from the life you want?

You might have inner critics dragging you down or unhelpful habits keeping you stuck. Perhaps you’re just tired of stressful situations making you want to hide–or explode.

It turns out these problems have one thing in common: how you relate to your emotions (and really, yourself). We’re here to share a skill to help you experience your emotions differently, so you feel more centered and present in your life, and more comfortable in your own skin.

With our two-part program, you’ll learn a self-directed process to bring you the quiet confidence that comes from loving and trusting yourself.

When you practice this process, uncomfortable interactions with people won’t be so triggering. You’ll shift your relationships with troubling inner critics. Unhelpful habits will start to fade away. And when you feel stuck, you’ll have a gentle way to help yourself get moving again.

How the Program Can Help You
The Structure of the Program
When the Next Program Starts

In Your Path to Lasting Change, you’ll learn a powerful skill called Inner Relationship Focusing.

Our feelings profoundly influence how we experience life, yet many of us weren’t really taught how to work with them. Odds are you can identify with one of these common ways feelings are (or aren’t) addressed:

  • your feelings were discouraged while you were growing up
  • you learned emotions were scary and overwhelming
  • or maybe feelings just weren’t talked about

With the Inner Relationship Focusing process, you’ll develop a gentle, allowing relationship with all of your feelings.

You’ll find that when you can turn toward your feelings with compassion, something new and surprising happens. This approach works on everything from overwhelm and conflicting feelings to feelings so subtle you barely notice them.

With Focusing, you’ll be able to truly understand how you feel and what you need. Focusing empowers YOU to make your own choices and get in touch with your own truth.

Is Path to Lasting Change Right For Me?

If you want to learn a skill to bring more happiness, calm, and ease to your life, or to the lives of others, our Inner Relationship Focusing Training Program is for you!

You’re Committed to Helping Yourself

Whether you’re new to self-care or you’ve taken other programs to help you improve your life, Your Path to Lasting Change will give you the skills to feel what it’s like to love yourself. The Inner Relationship Focusing process works wonders for people, and…it takes commitment.

Our primary goal is to give you abilities that will serve you for life. If you’re willing to invest the time in yourself to learn and practice the process, your quality of life will improve.

You’re Committed to Helping Others

If you’re a therapist or a coach, we offer additional content for Helping Professionals. Get a new set of powerful tools to work with your clients when they’re stuck or suffering from emotional overwhelm. Find out more here.

And if you find you love the Focusing process and want to teach it to others, after completing Your Path to Lasting Change, you can take our Certification program to help you turn Focusing into your profession.

You’re interested in Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin’s Untangling® work.

Learning IRF is basic to learning Untangling. In Path to Lasting Change, you’ll practice key Untangling concepts. As a Path graduate, you’ll be eligible for Ann and Barbara’s Untangling courses and retreats,

If you’re curious about Untangling, you can find out more in Ann and Barbara’s new book available here.

Click Here to Get Started on Your Path to Lasting Change
Schedule a Brief Chat About the Program

Don’t see a time that works? Click here to email Ann.

Does Focusing Work?

Over 50 research studies have linked Focusing with positive outcomes in therapy
including greater emotional regulation, more satisfying relationships, and increased self-acceptance, but you don’t need to be in therapy to benefit from the process!

Hear what some of our past students experienced in our program…

“I used to experience painful depressions that I felt I had little control over. I haven’t experienced depression since learning Focusing. I had trouble handling disagreement and differences of opinion. I listen to others with greater caring now, and am enjoying all my relationships more.

Before Focusing, my husband and I often had painful, confusing conflict. My marriage is now the joy that I want it to be. It used to be hard for me to know what I was feeling, because there was so much I was on the verge of knowing about myself that I was afraid to know. Now, I can turn toward all that.

I have the ability to notice feelings of all kinds, and relate to them in a friendly way that helps them relax and reveal what is important in them. I used to be very hard on myself, believing I had to be perfect, and berating myself for my failures. I now have a much more compassionate relationship with myself, owning (and cherishing) my own humanness and imperfectness.

At one point in my life, I truly thought there was something essentially defective about me. Now I feel so……well, human. And joined in that humanity by everyone else.”

Jill Drummond, Manalapan, New Jersey
Kilian T

“Before the course, I felt anxious, stressed, depressed, and unworthy. I had a hard time having a positive relationship with aspects of myself. Now, I’m much better able to accept myself — what’s there inside. I got very comfortable with the Focusing process and built up a couple of amazing Focusing partnership relationships. I learned again and again that situations I find myself in are there to learn from. The barriers put up are inside me and can be transformed so I can find a real path forward. I’ve been able to solve things better, to let go of things more easily, to enjoy more.”

Kilian T.

For the first time, with Focusing, I feel like I’m safe enough inside to feel all of my emotions. It’s so empowering for me to be able to learn how to hold myself with compassion and patience. In most practices, you need a therapist in order to get to this depth. I think one of the true strengths of Focusing is that after just a couple of courses, you have access to the process for yourself.
emma gran
Since I started Focusing, my sense of continual hunger is gone! I’m down 10 lbs and still dropping. I’ve been able to restart my exercise routine. Even my media addictions are gone. And I’ve stopped buying stuff on Amazon and Ebay cold turkey.

In a recent Focusing session, hunger came up and I was able to sit with it. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized that buying was part of the hunger. What a cool thing to discover! I’m so grateful for my Focusing companions for their contribution to these significant changes in my life!!”
bill kelly
What’s special about Focusing is this radical belief that we already have within us the next right step. Focusing helped me trust my process more and achieve the hoped-for results that always seemed out of reach with other programs. Now, with Focusing, I am able to reach deeper levels within myself and I trust my inner process more than before.
Darryl Commings
There IS something worthwhile that can be done to ease people’s suffering. Something that transforms the very fabric where people are stuck in their lives. It’s Focusing and it gives me practical hope for a better world.
taj
For over 30 years I’ve been searching for effective ways to help myself and others maximize their unique potential and alleviate the distinctive suffering that manifests from living with a tricky and highly complex human mind and nervous system or more simply stated, from being human. Inner Relationship Focusing is THE most powerful, effective, and elegant human technology for individual and community well-being I’ve ever encountered. In the relatively short period of time, I’ve been engaged in Focusing both personally and in my work with clients, the shifts and openings that have occurred are astounding. My life is opening up, the well-being of my clients is expanding, and all in the context of a global pandemic. Amazing!
cathryn campbell
We often think that change has to be difficult or challenging, but Focusing has taught me it can be gentle and beautiful. The secret of Focusing is realizing you don’t have to change anything–you can just be with your emotions as they are. Before Path to Lasting Change, I didn’t have a way to teach my coaching clients how to move through uncomfortable emotions and that left me feeling impotent, pushy, and unprepared. Now, I have a method to show my clients the power of going inward in a safe, gentle way.
Natalie bryant

“Before the course, I felt anxious, stressed, depressed, and unworthy. I had a hard time having a positive relationship with aspects of myself. Now, I’m much better able to accept myself — what’s there inside. I got very comfortable with the Focusing process and built up a couple of amazing Focusing partnership relationships. I learned again

After just two courses of Focusing training I’ve discovered things about myself I’m really excited about, and I’m starting to be able to do things to move forward that I’ve always wanted to do. I have been working as a coach and therapist since 1988. I took what I was learning from the very first week of the course into to my client sessions, with amazing results. I deal a lot with clients who have anxiety issues…and after 30 minutes of Focusing my clients were saying, ‘Wow, what’s that?’

Even more important is how it’s helped me. I grew up as a little boy feeling anxious, waking up in the mornings not sure what I could count on in the world. What I’ve noticed from the Focusing training is, now I can be with that aspect of myself that feels anxious. I can be with it like an old friend.

I have to say that the decision to take this course ranks up there with the best decisions in my life.

and again that situations I find myself in are there to learn from. The barriers put up are inside me and can be transformed so I can find a real path forward. I’ve been able to solve things better, to let go of things more easily, to enjoy more.”

Roy Gould, psychotherapist and life coach, New Brunswick, Canada
Click Here to Get Started

How Inner Relationship Focusing Can Help You

Many people struggle with an inner critic.

It can be mean: “You should be better at this,” or “How could you be so stupid!” It can also be subtle, making you think you have to get everything perfect. Sometimes it shows up as Imposter Syndrome, sowing seeds of self-doubt.

If you’re ready to feel better about yourself, let go of painful self-judgment, and find the confidence to move your life forward, Your Path to Lasting Change can help.

Do other people trigger you (even the ones you love)? 

If conversations with your boss cause your anxiety to spike or disagreements with your partner make your temper flare, you’re not alone. We’ve all experienced stress resulting from other’s feelings and expectations about us.

With Your Path to Lasting Change, you’ll develop the ability to pause in the midst of a tense interaction and tap into a wellspring of inner calm (that you might not even know you had!). You’ll have the skills you need to avoid saying or doing something you later regret.

Are challenging habits keeping you from the life you want?

Do you find yourself binge-watching shows on Netflix rather than finishing that book you’ve always wanted to write? Or maybe you end up rooting through the refrigerator for your 4th morning snack instead of getting outside and going for a walk.

In Your Path to Lasting Change, you’ll develop the ability to tune into what really needs your attention, instead of drowning out what might seem hard with habits that…well…aren’t so great for you.

Inner Relationship Focusing Will Change Your Life

You’ll learn how to shift inner-harshness to support and create an inner sense of safety that’s unshakable. And you’ll finally release those pesky self-limiting beliefs and step into the life you want.

You’ll become a better communicator and a calmer listener and that will help all of your relationships. With your partner/spouse, your kids, your parents, your co-workers, and even strangers…

When you’re feeling stuck, you’ll have the skills to relate to the part of you that wants to check out for a while. Instead of binging on shows, or snacks, or shopping when uncomfortable feelings show up, you’ll be able to make more supportive choices.

Click Here to Get Started

About the Program

Everything is Online – No Travel Required

This course is accessible by computer, tablet, or smart phone. If you can connect to the internet, you can connect to this course!

Your class meets on Zoom for two hours each week. During class, our well-trained teachers will teach you the Focusing process. You’ll get to practice your new skills with fellow students and have the opportunity to get your questions answered.

All course materials, including streaming videos, MP3s, a beautiful PDF workbook, and additional resources can be found on our online student portal. You’ll have lifetime access to the course to revisit lessons as often as you like.

Outside of class, you’ll have a weekly partnership practice, plus access to a forum to chat with students and teachers.

A 2-Part Program To Make Learning Easier

This is deep work, so we’ve divided it into two 9-week parts to make it easier to absorb. We provide a break between the courses to give you time to put your new skills into practice.

In Part One, you’ll get to know the Focusing process and start to incorporate it into your daily life. In Part Two, you’ll learn new concepts and further develop your confidence with Focusing.

You can sign up for both parts at once, or just get started with Part One and sign up for Part Two later. Wondering what’s different about taking both Parts together versus just taking Part One? Imagine taking a language course… If you only take beginning French, you could visit France and order a meal or ask for directions. But if you also took advanced French, you’d have a much richer experience, able to have real conversations and connect with people.

What you’ll learn in Part One
  • How to pause in stressful moments and find a calmer way forward
  • How to cultivate an inner environment of calm, open, curious awareness
  • How to create a relationship with what you feel so change emerges naturally
  • Guidance with trouble-spots
  • The surprising reason why trying to “fix” yourself doesn’t work to bring lasting change
  • What the research shows about the real key to change
What you’ll learn in Part Two
  • How to nurture positive feelings as a resource
  • More ways to help yourself and others when feeling overwhelmed
  • How to guide another person through the Focusing process, starting with your classmates
  • How to turn things around so your inner critics are on your side
  • What makes our bodies so wise
  • Mastery of the structure of the process

Your Path to Lasting Change, Part One

Sensing Freshly
  • Learn a new way to bring awareness into your body
  • Experience the benefits of taking a fresh approach to your feelings
  • How to create a relationship with what you feel so change emerges naturally
  • Understand why describing, rather than labeling feelings can bring change
  • Truly understand what brings about Radical Acceptance
Becoming the Environment of Change
  • Get specific phrases to help find calm when your emotions are taking over
  • Learn one key element that makes lasting change possible
  • Experience how Focusing partnership can help you truly know what you’re feeling
Changing by Not Trying
  • Understand why your assumptions about your feelings might be misleading
  • Experience how to start with a life issue and get a real understanding of what’s behind it
  • Learn a method to let change come naturally, without trying to force it
The Power of Inner Empathy
  • Get to know what is at the root of your feelings
  • Develop an understanding of why having compassion for all of your feelings is important
  • Learn how to be present and a good listener for another person
The Power of Not Knowing
  • Develop clarity around complicated feelings
  • Refine your ability to really understand what someone is saying
  • Understand why simply being with an experience and not trying to change it actually allows for real change
“Slow is the New Fast”
  • Experience how simply pausing and taking time can allow for deeper transformation
  • Learn how to be a better communicator when someone needs patience
  • Experience how tapping into how your body feels can help bring positive change
I and It – The Inner Relationship
  • Learn how to become aware when a feeling or part of you has “taken over”
  • Learn how to get some emotional space from stressful feelings or parts
  • Understand why empathy is important in working with uncomfortable feelings
  • Understand how language plays an important role in working with uncomfortable feelings
The Art of Listening
  • Discover how to listen for what someone else is actually feeling
  • Learn how to listen in a way that actually benefits another person
Moving Forward
  • Understand how patience and attention can allow a feeling to change
  • Experience true radical acceptance of all of your feelings
  • Feel the benefits of one’s Focusing practice, including:
  • Being less reactive in stressful situations
  • Being less dependent of distraction from/suppression of feelings
  • Improved relationships
  • More ease in moving toward goals
  • And more!

Your Path to Lasting Change, Part Two

Openings and Endings
  • Learn how the Focusing process can help you get in touch with what you need
  • Gain confidence in how to start your Focusing process for the most beneficial results
  • Understand how to complete your Focusing process to bring its benefits into the rest of your life
The Flow of the Whole Process
  • Gain confidence in taking yourself through a Focusing process
  • Understand the five main phases of the Focusing process and how each one contributes to your lasting change
  • Differentiate between empathy and sympathy (and experience the difference empathy can make in your relationships)
Offering Reminders
  • Learn about “reflections” and “reminders” and their roles in your Focusing process
  • Become a more skilled facilitator for another person who is Focusing (and experiment with how that can help you be a better listener for people in your life)
  • Experience the benefits of finding and staying present with positive feelings in your body
Close and Distant
  • Learn how to be in touch with strong emotions without being overwhelmed by them
  • Learn how to connect with your feelings even when it feels like you don’t feel anything
  • Learn how to support others in those same situations
Going Deeper
  • Learn how to troubleshoot the Focusing process
  • Understand the importance of giving enough time to each stage
The Feeling About A Feeling
  • Understand and release one of the primary reasons a Focusing process gets stuck
  • Learn more about stressful reactions to your feelings, such as “I shouldn’t feel that way.”
Turning Around and Inner Critic
  • Learn about the different ways Inner Critics show up
  • Understand the real reason why Inner Critics can be so harsh and judgmental
  • Learn how to shift Inner Critics from harsh and judgmental to becoming more supportive
What Parts Need So They Can Shift
  • Learn how to offer empathy for the deeper needs and feelings of parts of you
  • Practice bringing empathy to any part of you that feels fear, worry, anger, or sadness, so that those feelings can transform
Gathering and Going Forward
  • How to cultivate “positive” feelings so that you increase your resilience
  • Feel the benefits of your Focusing practice, including:
  • Greater self-acceptance and self-compassion
  • Know what you truly want and need
  • Being present for yourself and others
  • More ease in releasing past hurts that hold you back
  • Being better able to navigate stressful situations
  • And more!

What is Focusing Partnership?

Focusing partnership is the magic that makes it easy to keep doing this powerful process as long as you need it. In a series of confidence-building exercises, we show you how to support another person in the Focusing process, and also how to receive that support.

It’s not counseling. You’re not trying to “fix” your partner, and they’re not trying to “fix” you. No advice is given. You don’t even have to know what the person is talking about.

During your weekly Focusing partnership practice, your partner simply listens to you without judgment or agenda. The presence of a person who is completely neutral and accepting has an almost magical effect! And you’ll learn how to give that same level of presence to your Focusing partner. Focusing partnership is calming for both people.

And Focusing partnership is free. Yes, we still believe in therapy; some people need it. But most of the time all we need is a friendly neutral person who gives no advice and allows us to explore what is true.

Sign Up for Your Path to Lasting Change Here

Are you a coach, therapist, or other Helping Professional?

We have additional content for you to be more helpful to clients who…

  • don’t know what they feel or feel “nothing”
  • struggle with self-criticism and confusion
  • feel stuck in their lives
  • talk about feelings rather than having them
  • get overwhelmed by intense emotion
  • struggle with depression, addictions, and other effects of trauma

With Focusing, you’ll learn an experiential, body-oriented process of self-awareness and emotional healing that you can immediately bring into your work with clients.

When you take Your Path to Lasting Change, you’ll learn the Focusing process for yourself. Our Helping Professionals Track provides additional content on integrating Focusing with your practice. Read more about our program for Helping Professionals here and add our Helping Professionals Track for only $200 per part during checkout.

Do I fit the Helping Professionals description?

From our perspective, Helping Professionals include: psychotherapists, coaches, bodyworkers, spiritual directors, physicians, healers, nurses and anyone who meets with clients for the purpose of healing and growth.

Meet Your Teachers

Jinevra Howard
Jinevra Howard
Lead Teacher: Path Part One and Two

Jinevra is an empathic teacher, dedicated to helping students unfold into their fullness, with authenticity, humor, directness, and love. Her lifelong interest in philosophy, spirituality and all aspects of human development led her to Inner Relationship Focusing. Her interests and influences include enneagram, mysticism, integral theory, neurobiology, nonviolent communication, phenomenology, literature, poetry, and music.

Email Jinevra Howard

Ann Weiser Cornell
Co-Teacher: Path Part One and Two

Ann Weiser Cornell, author of Focusing in Clinical Practice: The Essence of Change,The Power of Focusing, and The Radical Acceptance of Everything, has devoted her life to helping people learn Focusing easily. Ann learned Focusing from its originator, Eugene Gendlin, in 1972, and worked closely with him for years. Today Ann is internationally recognized as one of the leading innovators and theoreticians of Focusing. She has taught Focusing in over twenty countries, and her Focusing books and manuals have been translated into eleven other languages.

Email Ann Weiser Cornell

What you’ll get with the Inner Relationship Focusing training program

A Life-Changing Skill

When stress levels rise, you’ll be less reactive and find calm instead, because you’ll have a healthy, compassionate way to deal with all of your emotions.

Radical Self-Acceptance

You’ll develop the ability to love yourself as you are and experience the confidence and clarity to move your life forward effectively.

A Supportive Community

During class, you’ll connect with students working toward greater self-acceptance, just like you. Afterward, you’ll have access to an online community of Focusers to support you in your process.

Join Us For Our Next Course…

…and fall in love with all of you, even parts that feel anxious

Your Path to Lasting Change Consists of Two Parts

Register for Part One and Part Two Separately or Sign Up for Both Parts Together (and save $297!)

Registration is limited to 40 participants per course.

Payment plan selection available on the last page during checkout (includes processing fees).

Scholarships

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

6 Payments of $282.14 or 1 Payment of $1597

Healing Professionals Track Add-On: $400

Winter & Spring 2025

  • February 18 to April 15 and May 6 to July 1, 2025
  • 18 Tuesdays
  • 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM Pacific
  • Last Day to Register: February 4
Register Here: Parts One & Two Register Here: Parts One & Two + Healing Professionals Track

*payment plan includes a processing fee

6 Payments of $167.30 or 1 Payment of $947

Healing Professionals Track Add-On: $200

Winter 2025

  • February 18 to April 15, 2025
  • 9 Tuesdays
  • 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM Pacific
  • Last Day to Register: February 4
Register Here: Part One Register Here: Part One + Healing Professionals Track

*payment plan includes a processing fee

6 Payments of $167.30 or 1 Payment of $947

Healing Professionals Track Add-On: $200

Winter 2025

  • January 29 to March 26, 2025
  • 9 Wednesdays
  • 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific
  • Last Day to Register: January 22
Register Here: Part Two Register Here: Part Two + Healing Professionals Track

*payment plan includes a processing fee

Schedule a Brief Chat About the Program
even more goodness

Your Program Bonuses

As soon as you register, you’ll have immediate access to 3 program bonuses so you can get started as soon as you like.

01

Why Listening to Yourself Works (and Fixing Yourself Doesn’t)

If you’ve ever tried to talk yourself out of how you feel or rushed to try and make yourself feel better, I bet you already know how unsuccessful those strategies can be. In this bonus, I’ll explain why “fixing” doesn’t work and share with you the power of The Listening Response. You’ll get a guided exercise to help you make listening (not fixing) a trusted part of your life.

02

When it’s Hard to Know What You Feel…

Being invited to “feel” can be complicated when you aren’t sure how. In this bonus, I’ll talk about how expectations – how you think you should feel – can cover up what you might actually BE feeling in the moment. You’ll get a guided exercise to help you slow down and notice what you DO feel, even if it’s subtle. You’ll be able to do the exercise as often as you like so you can the ability to sense how you feel in any given moment.

03

When Past Trauma Makes It Hard to Be Present

When hard things have happened to you in the past, you might worry that getting in touch with feelings could be overwhelming. This bonus gives you extra tips to adjust your Focusing practice so you feel safer being in touch with how you feel. These small adjustments can make a huge difference in your experience of Focusing.

More About What People Are Saying

‘I know who I am’ a little more

“Before Path to Lasting Change, my biggest challenges were maintaining boundaries in personal relationships and self-advocacy in situations where there was conflict. That left me feeling helpless and ashamed about feeling helpless. When I did manage to communicate what I need, I’d feel a kind of diffused panic that left me disoriented, like I needed to distract myself.

After the course, I have an increased sense that I deserve to have boundaries and I can still love others while maintaining them. I’ve had situations in the last few weeks where I needed to say ‘no’ to people close to me. I was able to do it more readily without that feeling of diffused panic. I’ve felt a mix of pride and hope, a sense that ‘I know who I am’ a little more.

I also needed to tell someone I’m very close to that some things she’d done and said had hurt me. I was able to do this with more clarity and less fear than usual. She noticed and appreciated this new strength. It felt very encouraging to be able to act more out of strength than fear and to feel that she also experienced me more fully as a result.

Path to Lasting Change was absolutely worth doing. It provides a new way of contacting yourself and connects you with people who can share in that process with you.”
Nathan cunningham

Gently takes you on a liberating journey

“Before Path to Lasting Change, one of my biggest challenges was allowing myself the space to explore my ‘messy, blurry feelings’ regarding familial relationships. I felt uncomfortable and incongruent. I would become stuck in a repetitive cycle, replaying difficult conversations and seeking ways to ‘fix’ situations.

Now, I allow myself space and time to be with what I am experiencing. I am able to pause, be patient and curious, and explore what emerges freshly. My compulsion to fix, rescue, or seek approval has diminished.

Prior to the course, I would usually take responsibility for initiating and maintaining regular communication with family members, feeling guilty if I deferred from this. I am now able to exercise increased autonomy and allow myself the freedom to choose when and how to communicate. I’m no longer bound by set rules and ‘shoulds’, more present in the uniqueness of here and now. If you’re considering this course, go for it!

Path to Lasting Change gently takes you on a liberating journey, providing space for you to discover your true self. It helps you to be increasingly present and alive in your day-to-day experiences, becoming more self-compassionate and enhancing relationships. I’m grateful for the opportunity to experience Focusing and integrate Self-in-Presence into my daily life.”
Alison F.

Like the lights of acceptance, and peace have been switched on

“Your Path to Lasting Change created a shift in my goals as a therapist. The surprise was, this course also created a shift within me. I found an awareness of my Self-in-Presence and learned to say ‘hello’ to the ever-changing aspects of myself that I experience as my emotional life.

From the viewpoint of a therapist, before the course, I felt I had to be responsible for ‘fixing’ others. Now, being present within, I’m more often able to help others do the same — to connect to their own emotional wisdom which allows them a lifetime of self-compassion and greater calm. 

Personally, Focusing gives me a feeling of being more alive, like the lights of awareness, acceptance, and peace have been switched on inside — so critical during this time of social upheaval, COVID19, and general life unrest.

I can’t say enough about the course, because it’s difficult to find the exact words to describe the experience of Focusing. Sometimes we just need to listen to something inside telling us to get off the fence and experience it for ourselves.”
Kim Phillips

I’m less reactive and better able to adapt

“Before the course, old anger and resentment kept rising to the surface where I tried to deflect it. I felt both toxic and deeply sad because I was becoming increasingly reactionary rather than responsive.

After the course, everything changed. I learned not to deny my anger and resentment — or even try to “fix” it — but to simply acknowledge it, sit with it, and listen to it. The change was transformative. The tensions of trying to keep a lid on toxic emotions disappeared. The anger and resentment dissipated dramatically. A gentle, soothing feeling of trust and open-heartedness began to build between me and all my parts. That feeling also expanded into my relationships. I’m less reactive and better able to adapt based on circumstances.

The compassion, curiosity, and loving-kindness at the heart of Focusing is a transformative gift that inspires the strength and courage to take the next step. We don’t have to complete the whole journey right now. Just the next step. And then the next… and the next…“
Colin berg

I am full of hope now

“Before the course, I’d get identified with a perspective or part and it left me feeling doubtful, defeated, ashamed, and hopeless. Now, I have an anchor for pausing when I feel confused. I can wonder, “what am I identified with?” It helps me feel a sense of hope and even trust in myself.

Here’s what that looks like in my life…

An inability to weather and recover from difficult emotional states were two things that simply felt like facts about me – things that could not or would not change. Yet, they’ve shifted. I am full of hope now that I can slow down and make healthier choices rather than reactive ones.”
Ber

Sparked an awareness that has changed my life

“Before Path to Lasting Change, it was frustrating and sometimes very difficult to connect. This course is very explicit in such a clear, safe, and steady way. The teachers know the content, but they know how to teach while being highly compassionate. Before the course, I was often worried about what would come up (inside). Now, I feel calmer and able to hold whatever does come up because there is a sense of understanding and embracing the process that provides a solid okayness.

Focusing has sparked an awareness that has changed my life. I am also adding what I know so far into my sessions and personal interactions, it has been very positive.”
Paula Sullivan

Feels like coming home

“Before the Path to Lasting Change program, I was stuck in a pattern that repeated itself over and over again. It was like I was on a merry-go-round. An experience would trigger me and I’d feel agitated and then want to “fix” it.

Now, when this comes up, I’m able to just be with it. I can let it be what it needs to be for as long as it needs to be. It’s not about fixing anymore. It’s a new way of developing a relationship with myself. It feels like coming home.”
Micheline G.

I’m more peaceful, trusting, and calm inside

“Before Path to Lasting Change, I felt like I’d always have these uncomfortable feelings ruling my life. I often felt anxiety and worry about my close relationships being unhappy with me or leaving me. After the course, I’m much more peaceful, trusting, and calm inside. I can experience close relationships and enjoy them without fear of being abandoned or disappointing someone. I trust that no matter what happens, I’ll be there for myself. I’ll be able to express my needs and listen (inside and outside). Everything will be okay, even if life on the outside changes (which, of course, it will), I know I’ll be okay.

Focusing is life-changing work, truly transformative — It ripples out into every area of my life.“
Debbie Fetters

IRF is the missing link…

“After Path to Lasting Change, I feel more alive because I’m acknowledging parts within me — allowing them life. I’m able to move forward in a number of areas of my life. I’m also learning what self-love is and discovering greater depths within myself. For me, Inner Relationship Focusing is the missing link that enables my other healing modalities to come alive. It’s such a unique opportunity to learn from experienced, caring, passionate teachers who put so much care and effort into crafting a course.”
lizzie mclaughlin

Focusing is a game-changer

“Before the course, I was concerned about completing my doctoral degree. I felt trapped, unheard, hopeless — like I was in a deep dark hole screaming for help, but no one could hear me. Path to Lasting Change showed me how Focusing can dissolve boulder-sized problems into pebbles. I learned that while there might be lots of pessimistic chatty noise in my mind about a problem (i.e. the world is out to get me), Focusing gives me access to the root of concern which is often more grounded, pragmatic, and realistic (i.e. fear of rejection).

There are few moments in a person’s life when one simple decision changes everything for the better — choosing Focusing is one of those moments. If you want to learn how to tap into your body’s wisdom, improve your quality of life, creativity, and problem-solving, Focusing is a game-changer.”
Darryl D.

Freed me from often feeling trapped in shame

“Before Path to Lasting Change, my biggest challenge was having Parts that self-attack when I feel strong emotions, express an opinion different from the group, or when I make I try to make financial decisions. That left me feeling ashamed, stupid, and incompetent.

Now, I’ve started learning a new language within myself to myself. And to my amazement, it is also understandable to other people. This has somehow freed me from often feeling trapped in desperate shamefulness. I’ve read a lot of theory, but the actual experience of repeatedly Focusing changes something in a way I can’t yet articulate. But it has the effect of feeling whole, in one piece, in a stable foundation in beingness.

Recently after a Focusing session, I was so moved by my inner parts willingness to communicate when given the chance and attention. Like they have been there all this time just waiting for me to listen. Isn’t it amazing that they didn’t give up decades ago?”
Marta Grip, MD

Learning there’s nothing in me to be afraid of…

“Before the course, I was aware of subtle anxious states I’d wake up with each day and how I’d quickly move those feelings aside or replace them with something more pleasant. Now I approach each morning’s sensation with curiosity, instead of the knee-jerk impulse to “get rid of it”.

I’m learning there’s nothing in me to be afraid of. I love the idea that there’s nothing in me that needs to be rejected…nothing to be gotten rid of!”
susan choi

Focusing helps you learn how to be free

“Before Path to Lasting Change my biggest challenge was disidentifying with emotions. It left me feeling confused and not sure what to follow — mental content or bodily experience. Now, I’m more aware of the importance of healing all my parts and the importance of not identifying with them.

Over the past year, I’ve had a huge shift in my life and Focusing Training helped me go through this journey of listening to my strong emotions and being with them while also having more clarity about my passions, capacities, and self.

Focusing Training helps you learn how to be free, how to be with all of yourself.”
Nour Al Mousawi

A deeper sense of understanding and connection

“Before Path to Lasting Change, my biggest challenge was getting into a group or community and not feeling like I would “fit.” That left me feeling sad, lonely, and different. I was concerned I’d feel misunderstood, or worse, that I would not understand. Now I feel understood and a deeper sense of understanding… with more clarity and capacity — and connection — as I move through the world.

Ann Weiser Cornell says the quiet part (inner thoughts and feelings) out loud in the most subtle, gifted way — demystifying them and making one feel perfectly normal. In this course, the learning, the knowing, the experiencing is everything.”
L.S.

A powerful addition to my work

“I took this course to incorporate Focusing into my work with people as a life coach and spiritual director. I’ve been leading people in self-discovery for more than 20 years and Focusing is a powerful addition to my work.

The course offered me insights from actual experience about Focusing dynamics that were only concepts from the reading I’d done previously. The skills gained in both using Focusing for myself and in companioning others are invaluable.”
Paul Fitzgerald, DMin

Free of the oppressive weight I used to feel

“Before taking the course, I often felt there was a giant weight bearing down on me. That left me feeling depressed, numb, and hopeless. I was constantly trying to avoid my feelings.

While I still experience these feelings, I now have a way to engage with them that allows me to become bigger than they are.

I have a process that helps me listen to my feelings instead of being overwhelmed by them. I’ve learned how to validate and empathize with my feelings so that their intensity decreases. I feel free of the oppressive weight I used to feel.

The sense of peace and calm I experience is extraordinary. There’s a saying, “…leap and the net will appear,” my experience is that

Focusing is an extraordinary, powerful net.”
Julia T.

I’m more at ease in my own skin

“My biggest challenge before taking Your Path to Lasting Change was my new relationship. My partner was living authentically and I wasn’t. It was a recipe for disaster as mistrust and miscommunication were common. I was terrified of losing the relationship. All the time, I’d have urgent, high-pressure, anxious feelings of needing to talk to him or wanting things to be a different way between us.

After the course, I’m more at ease in my own skin. I’m better able to be with my feelings of anxiety or my urgent need to connect. Now, I’m more relaxed with my partner. I feel confident talking to him about whatever I need and know that even if I do upset him, it’s okay. I can care for myself during times of upset. I also met so many great Focusing partners during the course and was able to arrange sessions as often as I wanted. This allows me to spend more time building my inner strength, helping parts move and transform. It’s exactly what I wanted.

I no longer have to wait a whole week for Focusing in therapy, I can work with my issues on my own in the company of a supportive, trained Companion. And I get to be that person for somebody else! I often say the price of the course is worth it just to have access to other trained Focusing partners because regular partnership really supports skill development in Focusing.”
Jenna F.

A miraculous feeling of calm and peace

“Before taking Your Path to Lasting Change, I felt stuck. Enforced inactivity due to the pandemic sapped my energy and my ability to concentrate. That left me feeling like a crummy third-rate human. I cried a lot. I hated that the pandemic had swept away my volunteer activities – places where I felt valuable and like I was helping in small ways.

Through the course, I learned to be more patient with myself. I began to recognize several ‘somethings’ that pulled me in different directions. I discovered the miraculous feeling of calm and peace that comes from simply saying to a ‘something,’ “I hear you. Let me sit quietly and be with you.” Part-way through the course I had an epiphany that shook me right down to my socks. 

I sat with an unpleasant feeling I was afraid of and I felt ITS fear for me! After staying with it, I was flooded with gratitude for this part that’s been doing its best to protect me (generally by encouraging me to back away from unpleasantness). Now, I’m on speaking terms with several “somethings” in me – I’m able to communicate with them.

I feel large, as Walt Whitman wrote. I feel like I fell into this course at exactly the right time. With every exercise, I learned new things about myself and my fellow humans. Internal walls and barricades, some I hadn’t been aware of, have melted, shifted, bathed me in lightness and peace. 

If you decide to take this course, you’ll be in the company of the kindest, most generous people you’ll ever meet – some will be the instructors, but many will be your fellow students.”
Jerene G.

Priceless support…

“Before Path to Lasting Change, overwhelm was my biggest challenge. I even had it about the course itself. That overwhelm left me feeling small and desperate. Now, I can say “hello” to the overwhelmed part. Before the course, I Focused on my own with a facilitator. Now, I’m part of a community of other Focusers. This is priceless support.”
Liz Tanaka

Opened the door for more honest communication

“Before the course, I often felt like I was helpless and that there was nothing I could do to improve my life. I often tried new things and stuck to them hoping things will get better. Now, I find it easier to get more clarity about where I want to go and how I feel in different situations. The course was a great experience to start opening the door for more honest communication, even though at first, I was scared I’d get overwhelmed by communicating with other people on such a deep level.”
Doorian Hazan

Got Questions? We’ve Got Your Answers…

If you’ve heard of Focusing elsewhere, you’re probably familiar with classes called Levels One through Four. Here’s how our courses fit into that system…Your Path to Lasting Change Part One is equivalent to Levels One and Two. Your Path to Lasting Change Part Two is equivalent to Levels Three and Four. If you have questions about where to start, email Allison.

If you took Focusing Level One from Focusing Resources in the last two years, we’ll give you a discount for taking Part One of the Your Path to Lasting Change. Just email Allison to request the repeat fee discount code.

If you’ve taken Level One and Level Two, you’re qualified to sign up for Part Two.

If you’ve taken Level Three from us in the last two years, email Allison to get a discount code for Part Two.

Focusing goes counter to most of the messages around us. We are told how to feel, or to “get over” how we feel, and we are never ever taught about the body felt sense that is the real way through our difficulties.

Why do you feel so stuck? Why do feel like you’ve tried everything and nothing has worked? Why do you go around in circles, repeating what hasn’t worked, feeling the same emotions, and no farther along than before?

It’s not that there’s something wrong with you. We really want you to hear that! So we’re going to say it again.

It’s not that there’s something wrong with you, it’s that the whole way our modern culture is set up leaves us cut off from our bodies as a source of wisdom. And if you suffered traumatic experiences or came from a dysfunctional family (like Ann did), that makes it even harder to stay in touch with yourself.

Focusing isn’t any of those things…. But it has similarities to each of them. (And can be used with those other methods to enhance their effects.)

As in therapy or coaching, you can get positive change on deeply held, long term issues, as well as releasing blocks to taking practical action. But unlike therapy or coaching, you do Focusing on your own or with partners in a free exchange. You learn a way of being that you have with you at all times, and once you learn it, it costs you nothing more.

As in meditation, Focusing has an essential quality of acceptance, and you can find greater inner peace and detachment from stressful emotional states or thoughts. But unlike meditation, Focusing is more engaged, practical, issue-oriented – being about a particular life situation.

As in positive self-talk or visualization, you can access the very best of your potential for moving forward with your life without getting stuck in negative emotions. But unlike positive self-talk or visualization, Focusing is grounded in your whole self, inclusive of all your feeling states, so you aren’t leaving out aspects of yourself that can return in a backlash later.

Please plan to attend all 9 class sessions for the full time of the meeting. Missing 1-2 classes can be worked around if absolutely necessary. (There’s a process for making up what you missed.) If you miss more than 1-2 classes, you’ll need to repeat the course in order to move on to subsequent courses. Please note, missing more than 20 minutes of class counts as an absence.

All you need is a phone, tablet, or computer and a comfortable place to sit! 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 an online classroom portal where course materials can be found.

  • Nine two-hour meetings for a total of 18 hours of class time.
  • A pre-class meeting with one of the teachers of your course. Information on scheduling your individual session will be provided via email after registering. This is for Part One only and does not apply to people who are repeating the course.
  • Your own copy of The Focusing Student’s and Companion’s Manual (value: $23), provided as a PDF file.
  • Unique Focusing Exercise Sheets for every paired class exercise so you know exactly what to do to make the exercises most effective for yourself and your partner. (We innovated these Exercise Sheets and they really work.)
  • Up to one hour of Focusing partnership, in between class meetings each week, to further develop your Focusing skills.
  • A class roster with contact information so you can connect with your assigned partners each week to practice the skills you’re learning during class.
  • Access to recordings of every class, so you’ll be able to listen again to anything you want to hear twice – or over and over again.
  • An online classroom portal where you can access homework, recordings, and other important class information from any web browser.
  • Email and/or phone support from the teacher and the class assistants if you have questions between the class meetings or need extra help.

Your Path to Lasting Change courses are offered 3 times per year starting in February, April, and October.

Each part meets the qualifications for 22 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. If you miss a class, it must be made up.

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.

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.

Combined with the Focusing Training Program, our HP Track provides additional audio and video content, post-class discussion group meetings, live Q&A calls throughout the year, and email support to help Healing Professionals (HPs) who want to bring Focusing into their work with clients. Read more here.

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.

You’re in the right place! Learning IRF is basic to learning Untangling. You’ll practice key Untangling concepts, like Self-in-Presence and working with Protector parts. And you’ll come away deeply understanding how bringing acceptance and empathy to all parts of yourself is the key to positive change.

After Your Path to Lasting Change, you’re eligible for our advanced yearlong course, Getting Free, as well as for our Untangling retreats.

Can’t find an answer?