I first heard about Focusing from David and Rebecca Grudermeyer, with whom I wrote Sensible Self-Help, a book about the stages of emotional wounding and healing. These San Diego-area psychotherapists said Focusing was one of their primary tools, and essential to the healing process.

In 1994, I attended a five-day training at The Esalen Institute in Big Sur: Ann Weiser Cornell’s Focusing workshop on Action Blocks. I was surprised to discover that I was already a focuser (although not yet a Focuser), having unconsciously used these skills in my own therapy.
In 1995, I began traveling to Berkeley to take Ann's weekend workshops and then to study with her and Diana Marder (of Huntington Beach) to be a trainer. I was certified by the Focusing Institute in 1998 (although I began teaching others in San Diego in 1996). When Reva Bernstein - a friend of Dr. Gendlin's and one of the original Focusers - moved to San Diego from Chicago in 1997, I gained another mentor.