Ruth Hirsch

Healing through Focusing

Heal. Grow. Expand.

I see possibilities in you that you can’t seem to see in yourself.
Possibilities for you to heal, grow and expand within yourself, in your life, in the world.
I want you to feel nurtured. In your process, your work, your growth.

I got here by exploring. Exploring the possibilities of bringing more healing to myself and others. And nurturing them.
Now I help others explore and find their way.

  • I started my healing journey studying the mind and received a degree in Psychology.
  • I expanded my studies from a focus on one to many by specializing and earning Masters degrees in Public Health and Social Welfare.
  • I grew my practice to include bodywork and got certified to heal through touch – acupressure, massage, cranio-sacral work and Conscious Touch.
  • I expanded my own mind with meditation and the healing power of yoga, and became a yoga teacher.
  • I landed on Focusing, a practice that combines the mental, physical and spiritual all in one.

Looking deeply within

Over 30 years ago, when I asked myself what I was here for an answer came to me right away. It felt like something I’d known forever but was not yet consciously aware of. What came was simply “to look deeply within and help others to do the same”.

About 6 years later, I was a certified Massage Therapist and enjoying my work. However, I continued to have a nagging feeling that my healing “tool kit” was not yet adequate for the quality of work I’d dreamt of doing. Unable to figure out what was missing, I took one course after another, even going through two more certification programs until I discovered Focusing.

My first experience with Focusing was a 5 minute guided Focusing exercise on a cold, rainy December day. We were in a small wooden building perched on the cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean on the California coast. The power of this short and effective process compelled me to learn more.

After a few months of study, I began to integrate Focusing into my Conscious Touch healing practice. The feedback from my very first Bodywork/Focusing client was astounding. After just a few sessions, he reported that he was getting more from Focusing than he had from his seven years of twice-a-week psychotherapy!

A year later, I began to teach Focusing, first to laypeople and soon after to groups of healing professionals. Psychotherapists and coaches who’ve trained with me have reported positive results in integrating Focusing into their client sessions.

Allowing awareness

My life and work have continued to evolve in ways I’d never have imagined on that rainy California day over 25 years ago. By listening within with compassion and curiosity, I became aware of a richer level of knowing. I’d found the missing link in my own toolkit. And it turned out to be one that not only enriched my professional work, but also brought healing and growth to my personal life.

Today, authenticity, warmth, and playfulness characterize my work. I model what I teach, providing examples from my own life that may be helpful in illuminating the process for you.

A lifelong learner, I’m continually refining my teaching while weaving in the tapestry of life’s experiences. I look deeply into my heart and soul and help others to do the same.

I’m committed to helping my clients and students learn how to access the richness of their inner language. And, for my advanced trainees, I’m committed to helping them begin to master the art of facilitating the process for others.

Most importantly, I enjoy finding new ways to touch and lighten people’s lives. I strive to bring light, movement, joy and meaning to individuals and through them, to the world.

“It is really a pleasure to know and work with Ruth. She is a wonderful teacher and model for the Focusing process and also for the kind of person we should all strive to be. Open, willing to look at ourselves honestly and make the necessary adjustments, very giving to others, able to create a safe and supportive environment in which to share, learn, and grow and the list goes on.” —R.T., Alternative Health Practitioner, Israel

“I feel grateful to have been able to participate in your class. I noticed from Day One your competence in the practice of Focusing, and your natural feeling for teaching and making people feel welcome….” —D.D., Colorado

“I always feel at peace after one of our sessions. You have a special ability to pass peace on to others. I admire your gift.” –Dennis Carrington, City Planner, CA

“I am beyond grateful to Ruth for her wisdom,  empathy, and extensive knowledge of all the simple and yet complex aspects of Focusing.

She helped me through an extremely painful time in my life in ways that have also been life-enhancing. I cannot recommend her more!” –G.S., United States

Odds & Ends & Assessments:

  • Favorite food: Farmer’s market peaches and cherries and rich hot cocoa made with homemade almond milk
  • Favorite thing: Relaxing with friends in beautiful places
  • Favorite pastime: Continual learning about various approaches to being truly healthy in body, mind, heart and spirit Also, playing the guitar, baking sourdough bread and traveling- especially traveling internationally to teach Focusing
  • Favorite places: In nature, near water, walking, swimming or doing yoga
  • Random fact: I only found out that I am Jewish (according to Jewish law) about 20 years ago — in 2000, just 2 years before moving to Jerusalem. Always a seeker, I now feel at home in my spirituality.
  • You can find more details of my educational, training, and work background on LinkedIn.
  • Myers-Briggs: E/INFJ
  • Enneagram: 1, probably 2 wing
  • Strength Finder: Developer
  • Abby Kerr’s Voice Values: Innovation, Audacity, Playfulness, Depth
  • VIA Character Strengths: Spirituality, Sense of Purpose, Faith, Curiosity, Playfulness, Social intelligence, Gratitude
  • Astrological sign(s): Gemini sun with Aires ascendant, Aquarius moon
  • 99th percentile: in Verbal Ideaphoria* on an aptitude test (* ability to come up with the most ideas in a short amount of time)

Like me, you may have tried a variety of healing approaches but felt that something was still missing.

  • You have a distinct feeling there are obstacles lurking within, keeping you from living the life that you want.
  • You have much that you wish to do or be in your life, yet something seems to be in the way of this happening.
  • You continue to be self-critical. Maybe you have a hard time making important decisions or trusting yourself.
  • You may even continue to feel pain from traumatic wounds from childhood: physical, psychological, and/or spiritual.

With Focusing, you will experience a peace of mind, body and spirit. A welcome clarity.

A sense of wholeness, connection, and trust in your own intuition.
You will learn an approach to help yourself and also integrate into your professional work with clients and students.

Are you ready to come home to you?

Guided Focusing Sessions
For those wanting to experience Focusing One-to-One in a safe, supportive environment

Focusing Oriented Therapy
For those wishing to make a longer-term investment in their personal growth and healing

Focusing Training Programs
For laypeople and professionals in the healing arts — such as psychotherapists, coaches and body workers — in all stages of learning Focusing