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Short History of the European Focusing Association (EFA) and Appreciations of Heinz-Joachim Feuerstein

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1st Feb 2025

Short History of the European Focusing Association (EFA) and Appreciations of Heinz-Joachim Feuerstein

EFA Posts Uncategorized

Fiona Parr and Ruth Hirsch – for EFA – January 2025

What is the EFA?
The EFA is a European network for Focusers to develop Focusing and the Experiential Approach through collaboration, openness and mutual support. An informal organization with no hierarchy, Board or Director, EFA is open to all European Focusers. It has a Steering Group which holds the primary responsibility for organizing the next events. This group offers support to projects, but does not actually lead the EFA.

The EFA dream (from the report of the Loutraki EFA conference in 2018)
The First EFA Conference (2018) may be regarded as bringing closer the fulfillment of a dream held by a group of European coordinators who came together in 2009 [at Hejo’s home in Gengenbach] to plan a Focusing ‘academy ’where those of us in Europe could ‘cross borders ’and learn from each other, ideally working together in a cooperative and non- hierarchical way. This is not easy to achieve. For centuries, there have been wars and conflict in Europe, and there remain many challenges. We have to struggle to understand each other on a continent where there are 24 official languages and where, despite English being the most commonly used language between nationalities, the vast majority of us are not native English speakers. Our cultural assumptions and our instinctive ways of relating to each other and dealing with difficult situations are very different. Focusing takes us beyond these differences. As one German participant, who has lived his whole life in the shadow of World War II, said of a very moving interaction with one of the Israeli participants: ‘It’s not just about building one bridge, but about building many bridges between nations.’

History of EFA Meetings
EFA members met for the first official meeting in Pforzheim in 2010 and met in person almost every year since. The intention of these gatherings is to interact with one another, share, play, learn from each other, create, build connections, plan projects together, and have fun. To date, we’ve met in Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, UK, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and during the pandemic, online on Zoom.

Some EFA activities

  • Organized and hosted the International European Focusing Conference in 2018 in Loutraki, Greece. 
  • Published two-volume compilation of articles on “Senses of Focusing” to explore issues that emerged at the 2018 Loutraki conference. This work aimed to create space for those whose first language is not English. Non-native English speakers constituted roughly half of the contributors.
  • Developed a European Oriented Focusing Coaching Training program appropriate to the multi-cultural and multi-lingual European context.
  • Hosts annual meetings for members to get together and collaborate across borders. 
  • Created an interactive website https://efa-focusing.eu, and Facebook pages.
  • Ongoing monthly online Group on teaching Focusing in Europe. 
  • Monthly online member’s meetings. 

Appreciations
Besides being one of the visionaries and founding members of EFA, Hejo has brought special and unique qualities to EFA, laying a solid foundation for an enduring legacy for the future. Following are some appreciations from EFA members that demonstrate some of Hejo’s contributions.

In an unassuming way, Hejo stands up for an open, non-hierarchical space while holding a strong vision for how we might interact. 

Living process
Hejo has the courage to let go of the normal structures that we often rely on at the expense of authentic relating. He holds out for a living process in a Focusing way; holding space for what’s going to come through. He does this by stepping back and leaving space for others in a soft and kind way.

Spontaneity
Hejo has a deeply unwavering faith in leaving space for spontaneity, for things to happen organically – the opposite of clinging to rigid structures or protocols. What he wanted and stood by was very important to him, and he transferred this to the EFA. This has meant a lot to him, and he’s given an enormous amount. He also brings a quality of authentic modesty to his way of sharing what he believes in.

Multi-lingual communication
Many also remember how, at the conclusion of gatherings, at the point when we were winding down, Hejo would surprise the group by bringing up the important subject of how we were going to work across the language barriers in Europe. It was an urgent question that cut through any sense of complacency at the end of the meeting and inspired us to revisit this important issue.

One member commented that he makes a living room for the other and always does this in a modest way. It takes enormous strength to stand back in the way that he has. 

History
We’re remembering a number of times when many of us Focusing colleagues met for a weekend to collaborate and create something together. We each spoke about our vision for EFA and what was important to us. Hejo spoke movingly about Germany’s recent history and how it brought a heavy burden for the German people. He felt that EFA could be a way forward, bringing hope and healing. He has said that EFA is like a peace project, embodying a real need for collaboration for Europeans to work together. This is what inspired many of us to contribute to the project.

As a tribute to how important it has been to Hejo to allow participation by non-native English speakers we include a few appreciations from colleagues in their native languages. 

In Dutch: Dank je wel Hejo Feuerstein, jouw drijvende levensenergie blijft stromen vanuit de wortels van de Europese Focusing Associatie (EFA) door de aderen van de boom naar waar het nu bloeit. 

In Finnish: Hejo, sinun lämpösi ja huumorintajusi ovat koskettaneet meitä kaikkia – kiitos ja kaikkea hyvää jatkoon! 

In conclusion, one member wrote: Thanks to Prof. Dr. Hejo Feuerstein`s sustainable engagement, the European Focusing Network began to flower and is more and more blooming. I remember meeting for the first time in Liege and the founding of the network and how it slowly took shape, followed by meetings in London, Spain, Greece, and Tübingen, Greece, and a few times in Italy. In all these steps, Hejo was the driving force keeping the project going and developing. Now the European vision of Focusing flows through an engaged ongoing group of people and will hopefully ignite even more European inter- living…

With deeply felt thanks and heartfelt-good wishes for his life in the 80th. 

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