Presentation Description 

This is a recording of Akira's presentation that took place on November 10th, 2021.

Dr. Akira Ikemi first met Gene Gendlin in 1979, then became a graduate student at the University of Chicago where Gene was a professor. The first part of this workshop will begin with Akira Ikemi’s personal reflections about what was inspiring about Gene. Listening to stories like these helps to illuminate and carry forward deeper understandings of the living roots of Focusing and its philosophy– which continues to unfold in new ways today.    
 
Akira Ikemi will then share about the influences of Wilhelm Dilthey’s hermeneutics on Focusing, a method which Gendlin developed. After, Akira Ikemi will lead a Focusing exercise that he created– Crossing with Animals– which helps to teach two concepts of Gene’s philosophy, Experiencing and Crossing. Participants will then learn to apply the principles of Experiencing and Crossing to art images or expressions. This will also enrich the understanding and practice of Focusing-Oriented Expressive Arts.

About the Presenter

Akira Ikemi, Ph.D., studied with Professor Eugene Gendlin at the University of Chicago around the time the book Focusing was published. He has taught full time at universities in Japan, and is currently professor at Kansai University Graduate School of Psychology (Professor Emeritus after April 1, 2025). Akira is a Certifying Coordinator of The International Focusing Institute (TIFI) and has served as a board member of that institute, as well as of other academic organizations, including the World Association for Person Centered and Experiential Psychotherapy and Counseling, and the Japanese Association for Humanistic Psychology. He is one of the founders and past-presidents of the Japan Focusing Association. Dr. Ikemi has written many articles and books in Japanese and in English, and teaches internationally online. He was named a “Living Luminary” by the Journal of Humanistic Counseling (USA) and he is the fifteenth person to receive the prestigious Japanese Association of Humanistic Psychology Award.

Registration Details

Please register with your preferred contact email – this will be your account email, where you will receive all communication about the presentation. If you have taken a course through our FOAT Online School, please register with your existing account!

For scholarship/work study inquiries please contact us by April 24, 2025.