Basic Focusing Course
and
A process-oriented group for learning and implementing the approach of Respectful Parenting
This is the flagship course of the Respectful Parenting approach.
.
.
I invite you into:
Focusing is a gift for deepening connection to oneself, to others, and to action.
It is a supportive worldview, and it is concrete and practical. It integrates into the private and personal sphere at home—in parenting and in relationships—and also in the professional space. In its essence, it allows the movement of life to be everything it can be.
Focusing in Respectful Parenting is a way to raise children who are “vibrantly alive,” upright, with strength, joy, and simplicity. The way there passes through listening to ourselves as parents and responding to the call for development in the face of parenting challenges.
Through the meetings we will become familiar with focusing skills, up to and beyond the level of a basic Focusing course, through engagement with parenting themes, and we will deepen our understanding of the Focusing worldview that supports the movement of life, and the possibility for change to occur and unfold.
Through the perspective of knowledge that arises from Focusing (the felt sense and the felt meaning), practical and moving parental gateways will open before us for understanding processes, reorganizing them, and finding effective solutions that emerge from the unique fabric of life.
Course Topics
Focusing deep processes:
Creating and clearing space * Felt Sense & Felt Shift * expansive presence * finding a “handle” * Dual Awareness * parts language * shifting and including perspectives * from the trauma vortex to the healing vortex * Whole Body Focusing (WBF) * a bit of philosophy * working with representations * The Magical If * the inner critic * stopped movement * and more
Parenting guiding landmarks:
Expansive parental presence * needs in the family system and balancing them * listening * natural parental authority * the family as a system through the lens of Family Constellations * boundaries as points of encounter * sibling relationships * problem solving * how to be present in conflict * responsibility vs guilt * playfulness and other supportive qualities * parental vision * time in parenting * the next right movement * trusting children
Learning format:
Learning concepts, ideas, and skills.
Internalization and familiarity through practice in individual exercises, small groups, and demonstrations in plenary.
Dialogue, sharing, and Q&A.
Between meetings, participants are expected to practice one hour per week.
A preliminary intake and matching conversation of about half an hour to one hour will be required before the course begins.
Structure and cost
18 meetings
Private participation fee: 3,600 NIS
Now is the time to inquire
Currently the course is offered through institutions and local/regional councils.
What is the purpose of joining this course?
The course grants a certificate of a Basic Year 1 Focusing course (Focusing).
At the same time, it offers familiarity with the language and path of Respectful Parenting.
Together, the course aims to be a life-changing experience of creating a supportive and beneficial channel of communication—within the personal sphere, and toward home and environment.
The course creates a space for a process of observation and change toward your personal parenting vision, and toward a broader presence in life. The knowledge and direction are personal and internal. The course offers a foundation for the path toward that—the path toward the wonder.
The course is suitable for:
Those who have always heard about Focusing and now feel it is time to experience and learn it in a deep and structured way
Parents of children of all ages (including those whose children have already left home), and also grandparents
Educators (come!!!)
Therapists and facilitators
Those interested in processes of change and healing
Those curious about a process of development through observation
Testimonials from participants
“I know there is a big change in me. It is important for me to reconnect to the process I went through so I won’t forget. Some of it is already part of me. I feel that what you (Lilach) offer is very accessible. And that you sprinkled stardust, and said to us: ‘Now, if you truly want to find this star, go and find it in your life…’ We received a sense and skills of authority over ourselves—what is good for us, for me… It is possible to apply everything we learned and experienced also with older children, and with friends.”
“The last meeting was very meaningful for me, as I said, and your words clarified to me that you truly understand what I am saying, that you are listening to me. I saw that this kind of listening we practiced allows the children’s autonomous capacity, for self-regulation and balance. There were many beautiful moments of listening, sweet presence with the children.”
Anonymous
“I feel movement—life is returning to me, pulsing again. Magic. Wonder. Not perfect, but… the children stopped fighting. There was ‘burning non-love’ and now there is connection!!”
Anonymous
“The child has grown by light-years… The separation between parents and children and the different roles became clearer to me. We are together, in balance, there is order between me and my partner. We both (the two parents) are together moving toward something. The issue sometimes becomes a non-issue when the deeper need underneath is met. Listening expands. I feel release, inner freedom…”
Roni Tena
“I left here with many thoughts. Full of creativity… The group is an island of togetherness. Of warmth. A good place. A change is felt in daily life…”
Rinat Yarden
“I came out with love for who I am, for my imperfect self…”
Lital Dari
About Focusing:
Focusing was developed in the 1960s by psychologist and philosopher Professor Eugene Gendlin at the University of Chicago. The approach was developed in response to the question of why certain therapeutic processes succeed where others fail.
Focusing is based on a new skill: the ability to attend to bodily felt senses and the rich knowledge that arises from them. It is a deep and fundamental way of meeting, knowing, and understanding life situations, conflicts, challenges, and dilemmas. This way of listening leads to deep knowledge about the next right movement in life. Therefore, this listening leads to processes of change, repair, growth, and healing.
This listening itself creates the foundation for shifts in perception, experience, and action.
Focusing is both a therapeutic approach and a way of life. It is grounded in the recognition of an ongoing life process of development. It helps expand inner perspectives and is therefore useful for clarifying, refining, and resolving conflicts. The very intention toward this path brings calm, reduces stress, and fosters clarity and inner joy.
Even “negative” emotions and states contain inner wisdom and guidance if we know how to listen to them. Anxiety and despair can become inner signposts supporting decision-making and change. What seems stuck can open into movement and yield guidance arising from our essence.
Focusing is a skill that develops over time. The willingness to be in a new and fresh space, constantly changing and forming, is a spiritual and emotional resource. The inner resilience built through this process is valuable in facing everyday questions and challenges.
Focusing is a direct personal tool that operates both on the internal dialogue of the parent and on the external dialogue with children, partners, and systems. Through it, parents can discover their personal resources and use them creatively in daily life.
Focusing is about relationship and interaction. We deepen into connection—to the self, to meaning, and to others. This deepens awareness of hidden motivations and intuition, and supports practical application in life, including regulation in moments of crisis and conflict, and the development of creativity.
About Respectful Parenting:
Respectful Parenting is based on respect for the child as a separate and connected human being—equal in value and different in role within the family.
A core principle is belief in the child, which guides us to trust children, to believe them, to believe in them.
The parental task (which begins biologically in the womb and continues in relationship) is to create a state of well-being in which growth is possible.
Metaphorically, the “placenta of interaction” continues to exist within us—a wondrous organ of connection with our children, whose role is to nurture (care, observe, protect, etc.) and support the development of separateness.
It is a link in the relationship, an organ of love, connection, and permission/guidance for growth.
In this way we move toward goodness (development, creation, action, growth) and toward separateness that fosters growth.
The more connection we feel, the easier it is to trust the separate movement of life; and the more we trust the expressions of life in our children, the easier it is to remain connected.
This is a movement that deepens, enriches, diversifies, and stabilizes the relationship.
