The theme of the doctoral thesis is Focusing, a special way of entering an implicit field of an individual’s experience developed and substantiated by E. Gendlin. The thesis’ aim is to explore the significance and effects of the Focusing process in the context of Relational Family Therapy. In the theoretical part, the thesis presents an overview of the theory of Focusing, explains the essential concepts of Focusing, and describes how the findings of modern neuroscience support both the principles of Focusing and Relational Family Therapy. It presents the central part of Focusing, inner referent or felt sense, as well as a theoretical view of the possibilities of crossing Focusing and Relational Family Therapy to obtain an integrative model of psychotherapy. The research part of the dissertation consists of the qualitative and quantitative parts. Both took place after the completion of one Relational Family Therapy cycle (12 sessions). The purpose of the first, qualitative part was to explore how individuals experience the process of Focusing itself. Only the research group was involved in this part; for the purposes of the research, the participants were trained to use Focusing in an experiential six-month workshop. The analysis revealed five main categories of the participants’ experience of changes, which synthesis linked into an implicit theory. The central finding of the qualitative part of the research was that the participants entered the process of establishing an embodied, genuine connection with themselves at a deeper and higher level of attuned presence, which also directed them to transcendental dimensions. Furthermore, they experienced changes in interpersonal relationships, and their understanding that establishing an internal relationship and changes is a process, has enabled them, among other things, to realize that skipping the process does not support growth and genuine change. Additionally, they experienced focusing in pairs as a valuable self-help tool after the results obtained in the process of Relational Family Therapy. In the second, quantitative part we explored how the process of Focusing was reflected in specific areas of an individual’s actions, i.e. in emotional processing, self-esteem, negative emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress, as well as in interpersonal relationships. In addition to the research group, the control group was included in this part. The results of quantitative research complement the findings of the qualitative part, especially in the field of experiencing the symptoms of depression and processing emotions. Statistically, the emotional stability component improved significantly, while the level of the appraisal subscale significantly declined. Participants’ self-assessment of self-esteem showed no differences. Changes in the incidence of anxiety and stress symptoms were statistically insignificant, while participants reported a significantly lower number of the symptoms of depression. Changes in the way of establishing contacts in interpersonal relationships were not statistically significant, either, although the trend of increasing secure attachment and decreasing non-secure forms of attachment increased, albeit insignificantly. Quantitative research methodology did not show significant differences between the research and control groups.
The dissertation sheds light on the method of Focusing as a meaningful and useful tool in
the process of Relational Family Therapy as well as a tool of self-help after the completion
of the therapeutic process.
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