PUPA Focusing Certification Program.
2-year program to become a Focusing Trainer (Certified Focusing Professional)
The base of the PUPA Focusing Certification Program consisting of eight courses, designed to not only learn and teach Focusing, but to also get to know and transform yourself, while creating change in the world. The initial courses cover learning Focusing (the six steps, and five kinds of listening), learning about who you are (how you avoid feeling, and your parts), learning who you want to be and what you want to bring into the world using Thinking At the Edge (TAE, Gendlin’s second practice), transforming a large block using the 8Cs of self-leadership, and finally a course on taking action with embodied leadership (see below for links to course descriptions).
While the core of the courses is Focusing practice, the training also combines other frameworks and ideas, such as empathic listening, Jan Winhall’s Felt Sense Polyvagal Model™ (which builds on Stephen Porges polyvagal theory about the autonomic nervous system), the 8Cs of Self-leadership and Internal Family Systems by Richard Schwartz, psychological safety, embodied leadership, creativity, as well as Gendlin’s practice of Thinking At the Edge.
PUPA Focusing places a large emphasis on asking the body for action steps, as the body knows different ways forward. The PUPA Focusing program also uses the PUPA process as a framework for the two years of course work, and it is also used as the structure of three courses (process skipping, 8Cs and embodied leadership). This is a way of crossing Focusing with the change framework Theory U (by Otto Scharmer from MIT and the Presencing Institute), so as to process bigger and more complex issues that take multiple Focusing sessions, as well as to catalyze change and action.
The courses of the two-year certification are organized in two PUPA journeys
Year 1: PUPA journey to use Focusing professionally
- Pause:Focusing basics, learning to be in the body
- Understand: Learning to listen with empathy to understand, both the process and the content
- Permutation: Being with something you “process skip” to invite some transformation
- Action: with the support of the Focusing Process Group, you begin to hold space for private clients
Year 2: PUP2A journey to learn advanced guiding and teach Focusing
- Pause: Revisit the Focusing for Beginners course, to deepen your learning
- Understand: Who are you, your parts and how you'll tell your story
- Permutation: Your felt sense shifts, showing you who you want to be, what you want to create in the world (TAE)
- Preparation: Unpacking a major block, to transform into who you want to be (with 8Cs of Self-Leadership)
- Action: Stepping into embodied leadership: co-regulating your creative project with psychological safety.
Trainer Requirements
In addition to taking the eight core courses, the PUPA Focusing Certification Program includes the following additional requirements*:
having an ongoing Focusing partnership(s)
attending one of the two monthly Focusing trainee meetings (there are two times to accommodate different time zones). Our monthly meetings include additional teaching and four times per year we have guest speakers (e.g. we’ve had Coordinators Peter Gill and Lynn Preston)
Meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of the month, 6:30-8:30 pm Eastern or the 4th Monday of the month, 10 am to 12 pm Eastern time
re-taking the 8-week beginner course (or the 4-week intensive version) to learn how beginners learn**
seeing clients one-to-one (for a total of 30 hours of sessions):
15 hours of sessions done with your network during Year 1, in the Focusing Process Group, and then
15 hours of recorded sessions in Year 2. These can be offered to the general public through the offering of PUPA Trainee Sessions. Segments of the recordings are discussed at the monthly trainee meetings.
final teaching projects:
teaching a beginner course. This can be teaching an offering to your network that you create, or co-teaching an offering of the PUPA 4-week or 8-week beginner course; and
teaching something you create by crossing your existing expertise with Focusing, e.g. your own workshop or course, built on your TAE work; or co-teaching one of the 8- or 10-week PUPA courses in the program; or co-teaching another course Annette offers. If you opt to create your own workshop or course, it is helpful to take the action course concurrently to support you in this part of your journey.
(optional) co-teaching workshops, and/or hosting the Changes Group, and/or hosting an Empathy Circle Focusing on a Topic. This is highly advised if you opt to create your own workshop or host a Changes Group, to have experience holding space for groups that meet only once or are ongoing and have different attendees each time.
When you enrol in this program you must also become a Trainee member of The International Focusing Institute (TIFI), which includes an annual membership fee. And then when all requirements are met, including paying a certification fee to TIFI, you become a Focusing Trainer (also known as a Certified Focusing Professional) with the Institute. Optional in this process is to take additional training from other Focusing teachers, including by attending the Advanced and Certification Weeklong (since the pandemic, some of these are now hybrid events. The 2026 Weeklong will take place online only in November).
Notes:
*there is some flexibility in the requirements. For example, you might opt to take other courses offered by Annette (e.g. the Climate change course) rather than the core journey courses, or do some of your studies with another Focusing teacher to better suit your learning needs. Or, if you have significant previous training, then the number of courses you need might be reduced. This can be discussed with Annette.
**if you already have some basic Focusing experience, you can begin the program with the 4-week intensive course if that timing works better for you, and then take the 8-week course at this stage.
Next Cohort, Open House & Application Form
The next cohort will begin in fall 2026, and run on Tuesdays, from 10 am to 12 pm Eastern time. There was an Open House on Tuesday, April 28th, which you can view below. Application forms are due July 6th.
Interested in the PUPA Focusing Certification Program, or have more questions?
If you’ve read everything on this page, including the Frequently Asked Questions below, and have watched the Open House recording, you can feel free to email Annette with any other questions. The final step is to communicate your interest. This is usually done by booking a time in Annette’s calendar (via the button below) so we can discuss if the program will be a good fit for you. Meetings can also be used to learn more about the Certification program. An application form will then be shared.
Not interested in being a Focusing Trainer, but interested in the coursework?
Anyone can take some or all of these courses. The only pre-requisite is the beginner 8-week course, 4-week course for advanced listeners, or some equivalent beginner training you already have. While the courses follow a progression and are great when taken in the PUPA order, they stand on their own. So you can mix the order, or only take the course or courses that resonate with your journey.
The PUPA Focusing Certification program is created and led by Coordinator Annette Dubreuil.
Become certified by The International Focusing Institute.
Option to attend the Advanced and Certification Weeklong at the end of your program.
“I highly recommend the courses offered by Annette. Her manner is clear and professional with a great depth of understanding and compassion. I took the entire journey through to the certification process with her and it has been an enlightening and expanding experience.”
“Thank you Annette, for all of the teachings over the years, and particularly for your flexibility in supporting my Focusing journey to unfold in its’ own way. I’m very grateful for the whole, delicious, re-wilded arc of it all.”
Core courses of the PUPA Focusing Certification Program
FAQs
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No, there are no previous educational requirements. However, classes are taught in English, and so a good grasp of this language is essential.
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First, review all the information on this page, including watching the recording of the Open House.
Next, please email me your questions at annette@pupa.ca
Then, it is best to set up a time to have a discussion together prior to signing up. This is an opportunity to make sure the program is a good fit for your journey and plan your studies.
Following our call, I will provide you with an application form. Applications forms are due July 6th, 2026. Selected trainees will be contacted with registration steps by July 20th.
Once you are selected, there are three remaining steps to officially sign up and begin training with me:
1. Register as a Trainee by paying the annual Trainee membership fee with The International Focusing Institute (see focusing.org/course/membership).
2. Register for the PUPA Training Membership fee (this link will be provided to you when you are selected).
3. Register for the Focusing for Beginners course.
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We have a cohort model. Cohorts begin approximately every nine months to one year. See above for the exact dates.
All courses for a cohort will be on the same day and time. For example, the one which began Tuesday, September 12 always has courses on Tuesdays, from 12:30-2:30 pm Eastern.
If you have missed a cohort, you can take the next 8-week or 4-week beginner course to start learning. (The beginner course is required at least two times in the program, so you will retake it once your cohort begins.)
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I mostly teach and use Gendlin’s classic six steps Focusing. I also teach a mix of other styles, including empathic reflections/double empathic moments (Janet Klein and Mary McGuire’s Interactive Focusing), and when working with difficult parts we use some Presence Language (Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin’s Inner Relationship Focusing). Finally, I teach asking the felt sense for action steps. Some of this is inspired by David Rome’s book Your Body Knows the Answer, Bala Jaison, Robert Lee’s Domain Focusing, but also from Otto Scharmer’s Theory U. See blogs about action steps and Focusing. Gendlin also used the term “just right next step” in his major work A Process Model, though he didn’t emphasize action as much in his work as others.
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Yes, Focusing is a beautiful tool which can help process many issues, including trauma. The training includes how to create safety as a listener, both within yourself (via the Focusing attitude) and with others with empathic and compassionate listening, that welcomes what wants to come forward to be felt/known and processed.
I am a trauma-informed Focusing professional, having trained with Jan Winhall and her Felt Sense Polyvagal Model™ I use this in all course teaching to some degree, with a bigger emphasis on the model in the Understanding who you are course (2nd year course).
The training includes when to recommend that someone work with a therapist in addition to a Focusing professional.
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The main tool I use with Focusing sessions are the felt sense body cards. This is a tool I created to record the felt sense in a non-linear way in addition to using words/phrases to capture a Focusing session. We will also use my PUPA process, which is a tool for working on an issue that requires multiple Focusing sessions. Finally, I use Power Point as a way to map dialogue or timelines of parts. Other mapping tools can also be used such as whiteboards.
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My professional lineage is inter-disciplinary, spanning environmental science, business, Focusing and emergence.
Within the world of Focusing, I owe the most to Eugene Gendlin for creating the practice. I became a Certified Focusing Professional with Coordinator Jan Winhall; my team to become a Coordinator was led by Mentoring Coordinator Peter Gill and support team members Massimo Zarghetta and Lynn Preston.
I have also studied Focusing and Thinking at the Edge during guest lecturers, workshops, courses or conferences with (in alphabetical order by last name) Peter Afford, Tomeu Barceló, Beatrice Blake, Lucy Bowers, Sandy Jahmi Burg, Naty Calviño, Ann Weiser Cornell, Marine de Freminville, Heinke Deloch, Aaffien de Vries, Leslie Ellis, Yehudit First, Glenn Fleisch, Adrian Harris, Akira Ikemi, Bala Jaison, Sergio Lara, Robert Lee, Mia Leijssen, Susan Lennox, Monika Lindner, Nada Lou, Beth Mahler, Barbara McGavin, Nicole Mitchell, Jeffrey Morrison, Suzanne Nöel, Lynn Preston, Laury Rappaport, Abby Wen Wu, Dennis Windego, Jessica Zormann. Apologies to those I have missed here.
Outside of Focusing, I want to acknowledge those I have learned from about the nervous system, trauma, resilience, compassion and courage, including Stephen Porges, Deb Dana, Bessel van der Kolk, Rick Hansen, Dan Siegel, Kristen Neff, Kelly McGonigal, Christopher Germer, Deborah Lee, Richard Schwartz and Brené Brown.
And then there are the many embodied coaches that I have studied with and learned from, including Beatrice (Bebe) Hansen, Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Staci Haines, Alta Starr, Amanda Blake, David Treleaven, Wendy Palmer and Ginny Whitelaw.
For working with emergence, I have learned Open Space Technology from David Barnes and Dynamic Facilitation from Rosa Zubizarreta. Others in this area include Peggy Holman, Brenda Zimmerman, Paul Plsek.
There are too many to name for business (including psychological safety), creativity and the environment, but a few influential people have been Otto Scharmer, Arawana Hayashi, Natalie Nixon, Steve Schein, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Andy Fisher, Timothy R. Clark, and Amy C. Edmondson.
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The average time to complete the program is two to three years.
To complete it in slightly less time, multiple components are done together. Example: co-teaching a beginner course while working on your final project.
You can opt to spread it out over a longer time period. This can be the case if you need to take breaks in between courses, or opt to do the courses in a different order to better suit your learning needs (in essence being part of multiple cohorts).
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As a Coordinator with TIFI, I can certify you to be a Focusing Trainer or Certified Focusing Professional. View details here.
As I am not a psychotherapist, I CANNOT certify you as a Focusing Oriented Therapist. If you’d like to be certified that way, you’ll have to find a Coordinator or Coordinator-in-Training who has the following qualifications: certification in Focusing Oriented Therapy from TIFI; be a psychotherapist who is legally able to practice in their country. View more about becoming an FOT here. However, some FOTs will accept some training with non-FOTs and you might start with the PUPA program and then round out your training with an FOT later on.
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There are up to 24 spots per cohort.
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Costs depend on how you do your final project, if you opt to co-teach with PUPA or do your own offerings. The full cost, including teaching with PUPA is $7,020, and without co-teaching is $6,220.
Costs include course costs and a monthly $75 membership fee. The extra course costs for co-teaching with PUPA are to pay the fees for the courses you co-teach. Course costs are paid as you take them. The monthly fee is paid monthly.
Optional Private Sessions:
Trainees can also opt to have private mentoring sessions, either with me or with another Certified Focusing Professional. My fee is $125 USD per hour. Or you can opt to do the bespoke package.
Sliding Scale
If you need support, there are a limited number of sliding scale pricing spots available, depend on both your location and life situation. You can review the Sliding Scale Pricing page which outlines country groupings and prompts that can help you determine where to place yourself on the scale in your application form (you’ll get this from Annette when you meet with her).
You can view this table which estimates the cost (in USD) of the program by country group/situation. Costs will also vary if you take longer or less time to complete the program, or if you take more courses, or opt to take some courses with other teachers.
