Neuroscience
I became interested in neuroscience nearly 30 years ago when a copy of Antonio Damasio's book The Feeling of What Happens fell off the shelf in a bookshop one lunchtime. 'Aha' I thought, maybe this is about the experience of the felt sense that we talk about in Focusing - and indeed it was!
My own bookshelves now groan with neuroscience books, including my own, Therapy in the Age of Neuroscience, which was published by Routledge in 2020. Focusing, and the inner experience of mind and body, have helped me understand enough of this complex subject to write about it!
Seminars & presentations
In 2026, I will be presenting a seminar and discussion on 'Hemisphere theory and Gendlin's best idea: the felt sense' at the International Focusing conference in Vienna. Subjects I have tackled for Focusing groups in the past include:
'Felt sense: an ethical compass for a world in danger': a presentation given at the Focusing International Conference in France, June 2022
'Organising the world around the felt sense': a webinar for the International Focusing Institute, July 2021
'The felt sense, the body, and the brain': a webinar for the International Focusing Institute, August 2020
'The felt sense, the right brain, and other people': a presentation given at the Focusing International Conference in Cambridge, July 2016
'Focusing Integrates the Left and Right Brains': a presentation given at the Focusing International Conference in Seattle USA, August 2015
'Focusing in an Age of Neuroscience': a presentation given at the Focusing International Conference in Switzerland, May 2013
'A Scientific Theory of Focusing': a presentation given at the Focusing International Conference in Germany, May 2010
Articles
The following articles discuss neuroscience and the practice of Focusing, including the natural phenomenon of (small 'f') focusing:
The felt sense, the right brain, and other people
- notes of a presentation given at the Focusing International conference in Cambridge UK, in July 2016
Focusing integrates the left brain with the right brain
- notes of a presentation given at the Focusing International conference in Seattle, USA, in August 2015
Focusing in an Age of Neuroscience
- an article describing key aspects of Focusing and the links with what we know about brain and body, published in the Focusing Folio, Vol.23 No.1, 2012
A Scientific Theory of Focusing, part one
- a paper given at the Focusing International conference in Germany, May 2010
More articles, plus more about my book, seminars and notes, are on my other website: peterafford.uk/neuroscience