Focusing
by Eugene T. Gendlin · first published 1978
19mentions
9recommended by
14HN commenters
2010–2026first – last mentioned
64% recommend36% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A practical guide to attending to bodily felt sense and emotions. It is useful for working through emotional difficulties and serves as a first step for anyone curious about the concept.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…changes such as lessening of intensity and change in perspective. This is much of how psychotherapy works, or for that matter just talking things over with a friend. A good book on attending to feelings is Focusing, by Eugene Gendlin.
on “Processing Emotions” ↗I can't help you with a defined origin, but check out the book "Focusing" by E. Gendlin for a good start on experiencing/understanding the concept.
on “How to stop feeling lonely” ↗…Kukla is a hard book to get, but very worth it. It provides a comprehensive view of history of psychology, with a strong (good) bias against behavioral psychology. I would look into Eugene Gendlin's Focusing[2][3], as first steps. Then stuff by Mark[4][5], or Gestalt Therapy[6]. The key to all of this I think is literally doing whatever you want to do. This can't be explained in one go (unfortunately), but…
on “Hacking Habit Development with iOS Shortcuts” ↗check out this paper I found here recently https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16846100/ for self 'therapy' I highly highly recommend the book Focusing by Eugene Gendlin, it is the unlock key for all other self-help. Jump to ch3 and read a dialogue example, it's figuring out the inside forces, underneath the words and 'theories'. You can do it by yourself…
on “Ask HN: Experienced software engineer – but unable to consistently work” ↗…emotional flinching distraction is just running away from a feeling. I don't actually care about the content of the new tab, i'm not addicted to the internet, blah blah ---------- BTW, The old book Focusing by Eugene Gendlin really helped me here-- it's on libgen or you can youtube the authors name to see some of his one on one sessions he did with people before he died. (You can do it yourself without a…
on “Persistent and pervasive impact of being bullied in childhood and adolescence” ↗>I personally believe a lot of this can be learned like any other skill. You just need to approach it differently and actively, not passively. A good book on learning to understand your emotions is Focusing, by Eugene Gendlin.
on “Emotional Intelligence Needs a Rewrite” ↗…issues. Perhaps not well enough to ride alongside road traffic, but if you can learn to walk, you can learn to cycle.) Since he can write, he presumably reads. Perhaps he could read some books about this: Focusing by Eugene Gendlin[3] is a good one, though perhaps not that good for a 4-year-old. (You can stop worrying about this kind of age-appropriateness by age 10, though make sure at least one of his books is…
on “Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths” ↗…books by Bob Wilson, particularly Prometheus Rising, which set off a world of self-discovery when I picked it up first in high school. Nowadays, on weird books or ideas, I’d say: * The technique of Focusing by Eugene Gendlin * Shinzen Young’s writing on his See-Hear-Feel noting meditation technique * Or, similar to focusing but much, much weirder: Jack Willis’s Reichian Therapy for Home Use (available…
on “Ask HN: Which book or course gave you an unfair advantage?” ↗Lot of interesting ideas here. I would just add a few points. On listening to your gut when you are a brain person, this is actually trainable, check out the book Focusing by the University of Chicago psychologist and philosopher Eugene Gendlin. On deciding, it seems to me the two most important things are if the two of you have reasonably common values about how you want…
on “The Marriage Decision: Everything Forever or Nothing Ever Again (2016)” ↗I'm a fan of skipping the coin and just straight-up querying my felt sense instead. See also: Focusing by Eugene Gendlin
on “Heads or Tails: The Impact of a Coin Toss on Major Life Decisions and Happiness [pdf]” ↗…intelligent thinking and automatic changes in feeling. Other forms of symbolization such painting or composing music can have a similar effect. A good book on this process of attending to unclear feelings is Focusing by the University of Chicago psychologist and philosopher Eugene Gendlin.
on “The Brain’s Autopilot Mechanism Steers Consciousness” ↗…sort of feel or intuition. It is described by philosophers such as Michael Polanyi and various phenomenologists. I studied with one of them, Eugene Gendlin, who developed a method called experiential focusing for helping people make use of their tacit knowledge (he called it felt meaning). You might want to take a look at his book Focusing. One more point. The idea that all knowledge can be clearly explicated…
on “Tacit knowledge is more important than deliberate practice” ↗I discovered a book back in the 90's called "Focusing" by Eugene T. Gendlin. It's about paying attention to your body. Not just the obvious parts - arms/legs, etc, - but including your thoughts and feelings. I found it extremely useful for dealing with nearly…
on “How Are You Doing?” ↗…Working with Children and Adults, David, Shemmings and Yvonne Shemmings. 4. The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk. 5. Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love, Sue Johnson. 6. "Focusing" practice, Eugene Gendlin. 7. How to survive the most critical 5 seconds of your life, Tim Larkin. The first four lay down foundations, explaining the mechanics, possible solutions, will help in navigating,…
on “The Effects of Early Relational Trauma (2001) [pdf]” ↗Have you read Focusing by Eugene Gendlin? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focusing_(psychotherapy)
on “The brain’s reading of the body’s state is key to mental health” ↗