ABSTRACT
Rogers describes the ‘formative tendency’ as ‘an evolutionary tendency toward greater order, greater interrelatedness, greater complexity’, which, in human beings involves ‘an awareness and sensing below the level of consciousness, to a conscious awareness of the organism and the external world, to a transcendent awareness of the unity of the cosmic system including people’. How can we consciously bring ourselves to live in alignment with this directional force, allowing ourselves to experience a greater sense of connectedness with our world and the rest of humanity? A very clear answer is offered through the work of Peter Campbell and Ed McMahon, Jesuit priests deeply versed in Christian theology, but also taught and influenced by both Carl Rogers and Eugene Gendlin. Their work demonstrates how developing the physiological identification of feelings that we know as ‘congruence’ into an ever-deepening bodily knowing aligns with what Rogers terms the ‘formative tendency’ accessible to all. Building on person-centred roots, they have developed a teachable practice known as Bio-Spiritual Focusing which can bring us to a deeper humanity through ‘our common human body’s unique way of felt knowing and being connected in the world and the universe around us’.
