Focusing Initiatives International has learned that when people are frightened, when passions run high, listening – deep listening so that people really feel heard – creates a kind of space for healing. We understand that when people do not feel heard, they cannot listen.

An exciting, upcoming training with Miki Kashtan will involve Convergent Facilitation, a new and powerful method of particular benefit to Focusers. 1. Convergent Facilitation is an approach you can use within your own family. Focusing practice can be a great way to develop our listening […]

It feels like the world is stuck at the extreme ends of the social and political spectrums. Everyone seems to be yelling, yet few really stop to listen.This is happening around the elections in the US. We saw it happen with Brexit. And everyday the […]

When Wajid Syed and Pat Omidian of Focusing Initiatives International began working with community leaders from the war-torn Western region of Pakistan, they found that these leaders were often as traumatized as the people they were being trained to help. Their first task, then, has […]

This book, co-authored with Nina Papadapoulos,  documents the training of teacher trainers in the IRC’s Female Education Program (FEP) in psychosocial wellness models. and the development of teacher training materials for IRC refugee teachers in 2002. A reflective process was used to raise awareness, to build […]

Community wellness is based on a public health approach with two assumptions. First, most illnesses are preventable, including various types of mental illness. Second, the community itself contains many solutions to its own health needs and already has many techniques to encourage resilience and wellness. […]