Ann Weiser Cornell – The Radical Acceptance of Everything

I’ve spent most of my life teaching, exploring, and writing about the mysteries of emotional process, including:

• The paradox of how we become more whole by acknowledging our parts
• How the most despised places in us contain our greatest treasure
• How the body’s felt sense, held in a compassionate state of Presence, is the key to change

In fact, the story of my evolution as a Focuser unfolds in the pages of The Radical Acceptance of Everything. You’ll get an inside look at where I started, what transformed, how hard I found Focusing at first, how I became a teacher almost by accident, and what influenced my Focusing teaching to evolve and transform in the precise ways that it did. My prejudices and passions appear on every page.

In this book, I’ve compiled key writings from over the course of three decades. The pieces selected offer you a window into my personal thoughts and feelings about the process of Focusing, as it unfolded in my life. My intention is that the personal nature of these articles helps you connect to the concepts and methods presented.

I set out to create a book that identified some of the ways we get lost in inner wars and how we can cultivate radical self-acceptance to bring peace to the places that ache inside. I wanted it to be accessible to both the seeker of personal change and the professional who wants to be more effective working with others, and I think I succeeded. The Radical Acceptance of Everything has something for you if:

• You’d like to deepen your understanding of Focusing
• You’re looking to cultivate more self-compassion
• You’d like to fine-tune your skills with facilitative language
• You’re a teacher wanting to explore new ways of talking or thinking about Focusing

What you’ll gain from this book:

• A road map of what it means to live a Focusing life.
• Clear, specific examples of what an inner relationship can look like as a conversation unfolds between you, as Self-in Presence, and a “something in you” that needs your Presence.
• An understanding of how some aspects of our experience get exiled and why it’s so important to invite them back in again.
• An inside look at the “third way” that is so essential to Focusing – a way where you are neither identifying nor dissociating from your emotional experiences

This Book is for You If:

• You’re involved in your own emotional healing and wanting more radical self-acceptance in your life.
• You want to go deeper into the remarkable process of Focusing or add to your understanding of Focusing if you’re new to it.
• You’re a Focusing teacher interested in how you can be facilitative to the wonderful variety of people you encounter while remaining true to yourself.