Focusing 1 for Sensitive People

A 6-week online course, coming Spring 2020

Are you built sensitive? It can be tough to stay self-connected around others…

  • You easily lose track of yourself around other people: you get overwhelmed or overstimulated, trying to monitor all that is going on.
  • You yearn to be heard and understood, and to get support with all that goes on in you. But when you are told you are “too sensitive,” “too serious,” or “too intense,” you shut down.
  • You hold back from expressing thoughts, feelings, and reactions that might upset others: conflict is so painful to you, you’d rather just put your needs aside.
  • You suffer from a chronic feeling of not belonging, quietly fearing that something must be wrong with you. 

Discover the miracle of Focusing partnership…

Focusing is a way of being with yourself that allows you to hold even your most intense sensitive emotions without getting overwhelmed. When you Focus, you connect to the peace and rightness of your deepest knowing….and this in turn leads to external right action. These are just two of the 12 Reasons Sensitive People Love Focusing.

In Focusing partnership, two people take turns supporting each other in the Focusing process.  Together you create a powerfully safe container in which you can learn how to stay connected to yourself in the company of another person. This supported self-connection leads to greater self-acceptance and helps you heal old pain. 

Working with your fellow sensitive Focusers in the class, you begin to appreciate your sensitivity in a new way, and to manage it with skill. For more information on the ways Focusing partnership can help you thrive as a sensitive person, please visit the About Focusing page where you’ll find my best articles and videos about Focusing.

I’ve had a lot of anxiety that would spring up when I’m under stress, and would keep me from going inside. But the partnering has a very leveling effect. The structure enables both people to do deep work and not lose that in a social relationship…even though we are all just beginning, we can get to places we never thought we could get to. The fact that nobody is judging, and we don’t make any comments or suggestions to the other person…it builds up a trust, and a safety.

– H.S., Rochester, NY

Get the tools you need to manage your sensitivity better—

Focusing skills

  • How to use the basic skills of Focusing to stay present with intense emotions, and how to help your Focusing partners do the same
  • How to create welcome spaciousness around your thoughts, emotions, and reactions by using Presence Language
  • A simple, effective way to disarm self-criticism and expand your self-acceptance

Key HSP information

  • The four characteristics all sensitive people share, and how they affect you
  • Why sensitive people get overwhelmed so easily, and how to use Focusing to re-ground yourself when that happens
  • How to overcome your fear of asking for what you want as a Focuser (a key skill for sensitive people)

Ongoing free support

  • Develop trusted Focusing partners with whom you can Focus long after the course ends—on everything from intense emotions to a subtle “tug on your sleeve”

I am able to recognize my sensitivity a little bit better and I am learning to “be with” my inner critic instead of trying to stop her from criticizing or even criticizing her for criticizing!  Focusing is helping me to be kinder and gentler to myself and others.  It is stopping me in my tracks when I get overwhelmed and showing me that there is a way to manage my sensitivity by being with, instead of reacting to, the intense feelings that sometimes arise in me. 

– NN, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY

Meet your teacher…

Emily Agnew serves creative, sensitive people who struggle with anxiety, shame, and perfectionism. As a certified Focusing Trainer and a certified Inner Bonding facilitator, she offers 1:1 sessions, the six-month 1:1 Inner Listening Intensive program, and several online courses.

Emily writes the bi-weekly Sustainably Sensitive newsletter and teaches “teaches teachers” for the Focusing certification program at Focusing Resources. She’s a professional oboist/oboe teacher/partner/mother/ friend/bookworm/ flower-grower/meditator/yoga practitioner…and a highly sensitive person.

What’s special about this course?

Three elements build on each other to create the unique power of this course:

An intimate group 

Learning with a small group of sensitive people meets a need for belonging, and increases your appreciation of your own sensitivity. The class creates un-pressured opportunities to Focus with with a variety of partners so you can sense with whom you might like to continue working after the class ends. 

Lots of practice

In the world of “do it yourself” classes, this class is different. I want to be sure you “get it”. The small class size (limited to 12) means there is time to share and get personal, detailed answers to your questions.  And you practice your skills— in class, and again each week before the next class.

A sensitive “framework”

I’ve created interactive exercises, guided reflections, and materials to help you see how your sensitivity shows up in your Focusing partnerships. In the radically accepting environment of Focusing, you can develop new self-care skills.  

 I have so much in my past that needs to be healed. So then I reach a point where I say “OK, I’m willing to feel this”, at which point I tend to “become the feeling” and get overwhelmed in it and lose my grounding and sense of focus. I have been really practicing this idea of rephrasing all of my internal thoughts, sensations, etc as “a part of me” and it has already been amazing! I’ve been able to acknowledge and feel some pretty big emotions and support myself without being overwhelmed. I am getting SO much out of this class. I am so glad I decided to do this.

– M T, Superior Township, MI

Putting it all together: what you’ll receive

The course fee of $495 includes—

  • A 1:1 guided Focusing session with Emily:  By completing this session before our first class, you will be primed to get the most out of the course.  (Value: $120)
  • Six class dates (time TBA), with access to the course by internet or by phone from anywhere in the world via Zoom. 
    Note: Though class recordings will be available, the success of this course depends on your attending the class online each week at the appointed time, so you can take advantage of hands-on practice. You may miss one class and still go on to Focusing 2 for Sensitive People. (Conflicts? Check with Emily before enrolling.)
  • A digital copy of the Focusing Student and Companion’s Manual, Part 1 by Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin: Filled with lucid explanations, examples, and evocative drawings explaining the concepts of Inner Relationship Focusing. (Value: $28)
  • Focusing partners and sensitivity awareness to last a lifetime
    (Value: priceless)

I’m ready to learn Focusing partnership!

Pay in full (save $55)

$495

Pay half now, half in one month

$275

Registration closing date: TBA. Class size is limited—register early!

Questions?

Please email me. I’ll be happy to answer your questions….and I hope to see you in the course!

Still needing help deciding?

Read comments from graduates on a variety of aspects of the course:

Having someone just LISTEN to whatever I was experiencing with absolutely NO WORDS, NO JUDGMENT, NO FIXING, was honestly a life altering experience!

The best part of focusing IS the fact that although it is a specific “process”, you will find a way to make it YOURS.  It will be with you forever, and you can find the way to delve into YOU, which ultimately is the only thing that is really important anyway.  NO ONE is the authority in your life other than YOU.  This really is a “tool”, not an absolute, not a judgement about what you should or shouldn’t do. Having someone just LISTEN to whatever I was experiencing with absolutely NO WORDS, NO JUDGEMENT, NO FIXING, was honestly a life altering experience!  It was very nice to have that experience and now have it to refer to.  I have so much in my past that needs to be healed.  Some very big overwhelming emotions and sensations. So much that I’ve generally coped by pushing away the sensation, which as you can guess, only serves to build up in my body. So then I reach a point where I say “OK, I’m willing to feel this”, at which point I tend to “become the feeling” and get overwhelmed in it and lose my grounding and sense of focus. I have been really practicing this idea of rephrasing all of my internal thoughts, sensations, etc as “a part of me” and it has already been amazing! I’ve been able to acknowledge and feel some pretty big emotions and support myself without being overwhelmed. I feel more “grown up” and able to develop and use my OWN skills to handle life.  I don’t care so much about other tools that people use, and am much more comfortable turning away others’ suggestions that I don’t feel comfortable with for my own life. I am getting SO much out of this class. I am so glad I decided to do this.

– MT, Superior Township, MI

The overwhelming feeling is that I’ve gained a superpower: kind of like an inner tool that is mine to use at my own discretion …

The overwhelming feeling is that I’ve gained a superpower: kind of like an inner tool that is mine to use at my own discretion… I feel empowered by it, and I’d say one of the key things I’ve noticed is more comfort with hearing the truth within, and acknowledging that truth, and acting on it. I have noticed a deeper awareness of what I am feeling and the thoughts or story that runs through my head connected to what I am feeling. I feel more confident to speak my truth, to say no to what is not aligned with my sense of purpose and path, and to check in on new opportunities that arise to ensure they are aligned.

– BS, Waterloo, Ontario

I want to again thank you for this incredible experience! Working with you has shed such light and understanding on things I have struggled with my entire life!

I want to again thank you for this incredible experience! Working with you has shed such light and understanding on things I have struggled with my entire life! It couldn’t have come at a better time in my life and I am grateful for all that I have learned from you. Thank you for bringing such light and peace in this chaotic world!! The course has helped me acknowledge, accept, and understand more of what an HSP is and what it means to me. Focusing is a tool that keeps me present, grounded in the moment and out of my head.

– MM, Schertz, TX

It feels great to stay present with an intense feeling, observing it as it changes into something that in the end leaves me feeling much lighter and not so bogged down with my HSP tendency to be processing just about everything. And when I feel lighter, there is a sense of movement towards feeling more alive and creative in all aspects of my life.

What I really liked about Focusing is that it allows my mind to wander, to be curious, wondering what will come up, what wants to be seen heard, felt? It feels great to stay present with an intense feeling, observing it as it changes into something that in the end leaves me feeling much lighter and not so bogged down with my HSP tendency to be processing just about everything. And when I feel lighter, there is a sense of movement towards feeling more alive and creative in all aspects of my life. I highly recommend Focusing as a great tool for we highly sensitive people to explore and honor the overwhelm that can result from our depth of processing abilities.

– Jacquelyn Strickland, Fort Collins, Colorado

This was a very safe course and being in a class with only HSP’s is a very special experience, great for accountability.

I enjoyed the Inner Bonding buddy course, and Emily’s warm, wise, accepting style and my intuition told me that this was the next step. I’ve noticed increasing self-acceptance of my HSP traits, plus the skills of de-merging with the parts and also being with those parts. This was a very safe course and being in a class with only HSP’s is a very special experience, great for accountability.

– LW, Queensland, Australia

The pace of the class was mellow, with lots of time to ask questions. I especially appreciated the in-class exercises that enabled us to practice and get lots of feedback on new skills.

Emily set a warm and welcoming tone for the class…she had a light touch with the material and made it very approachable. The pace of the class was mellow, with lots of time to ask questions. I especially appreciated the in-class exercises that enabled us to practice and get lots of feedback on new skills.

– KM, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Emily has a deep applied/lived knowledge of HSPs and Focusing, clearly using personal stories to help bring the concepts to life.

Emily is passionate about Focusing and the transformation it provides. She has a deep applied/lived knowledge of HSPs and Focusing, clearly using personal stories to help bring the concepts to life. She has a gentle collaborative conversational teaching style, walking beside students, but is also rigorous and confident in what she is teaching to not let students take over the class or jump ahead. She ensured the foundation of knowledge and practices were set before moving to the next stage.

– Anon