Maria Hakasalo is a professional Focusing Trainer and lives in Espoo, a city next to the capital city of Finland, Helsinki. She was introduced to Wholebody Focusing (WBF) in 2011 in a centering prayer group led by Eero Voutilainen. Kevin McEvenue and Karen Whalen had created an innovative approach to teaching Wholebody Focusing, and Eero was part of their first training group in New York.
Maria has practiced WBF in groups, with Focusing partners and then later studied Focusing in order to become a trained Focusing Professional. She received her Certification as a Focusing Trainer by The International Focusing Institute in May 2018.
Maria has also studied Creative Writing for several years and is currently writing a Focusing book in Finnish based on her own experiences. She decided to write this book after an inspirational WBF session in 2012.
See: https://wholebodyfocusing.blog/2018/10/11/brave-enough-uskallanko/.
Her primary interest is to develop and teach how one can combine Focusing with creative writing, including releasing of a writer’s block, the creation of a bodily felt sense with the characters and themes, and finding the ways to support creativity.
She also teaches basic Focusing courses at Critical Academy, in Helsinki. In addition, she offers individual online sessions via phone, Zoom, and also at her home in Espoo, and in Annankatu, Helsinki.