I’ll be interviewed by therapist, Shanti O’Connor, on KPOV’s newest show, Voices from the Margins, about maintaining emotional health and the holidays. Voices from the Margins is an interview-based show that explores non-dominant cultural narratives and issues impacting marginalized populations. A rotating cast of five hosts highlights stories and communities not typically centered in mainstream media.

This workshop will teach you a whole new way of communicating with yourself and your other. You will leave with concrete skills to practice daily on your own and with your partner when needed. If you’re feeling stuck, bored, or a lack of passion and connection in your relationship, doing something radically new together creates all of those feel-good chemicals that help you to reattach to your partner, and to become curious and excited about them again.

In this workshop, you and your partner will learn…

• How to calmly address your discomfort, rather than quickly react

• How to listen to each other in a way that honors your inner experience 

• To go beyond content when communicating, and to become curious and compassionate about yours and your other's discomfort

• To more effectively recognize and communicate your needs

When: Sunday, December 2nd, 12pm-6pm

Location: 3Rivers Center for Relationship- 115 NW Greeley Ave. Bend, Oregon 97701 

Cost: $200 per couple

This workshop will consist of 4 couples, so space is limited. Call Tara Breitenbucher at 541-905-0500 or email her at tara@imagineapath.com to save your space. 

Note: this workshop is for couples who want to increase their self-improvement skills. It will not be providing therapy and isn’t appropriate for couples who are not sure about their commitment to each other and the relationship.

Tara Renee Breitenbucher is a licensed professional counselor and owner of Imagine A Path, counseling and workshops for inner and interpersonal growth. She has a holistic psychotherapy practice for individuals and couples in Bend, Oregon.

Wanting to see Focusing in action? Or have you already been trained in Focusing and want to practice Focusing with someone else? The Central Oregon Changes group is a free, monthly group, meeting every 2nd Sunday afternoon 4pm-6pm at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon- 61980 Skyline Ranch Rd, Bend, OR 97703. Co-facilitated by Tara Breitenbucher (imagineapath.com) and Steven Biesmann (www.livingpresence.co), both Certified Focusing Trainers, who also provide introductory workshops and training for those wanting more instruction in Focusing. This group welcomes people of various levels of experience with Focusing - from those who know nothing about Focusing, to those who have Focused in partnership for decades, and all of those in-between. Each month, a participant or facilitator presents a brief topic on Focusing before participants pair off for exchanges, and then reconvene to the larger group to debrief from the exchanges if desired. People new to Focusing will be invited to observe, and resources for further instruction will be provided. RSVP with Steven Biesmann 541-410-9039 (stbiesmann@gmail.com), or Tara Breitenbucher 541-905-0500 (tara@imagineapath.com) and check the Focusing In Community Facebook webpage for a monthly schedule at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1426121857466671/

Wanting to see Focusing in action? Or have you already been trained in Focusing and want to practice Focusing with someone else? The Central Oregon Changes group is a free, monthly group, meeting every 2nd Sunday afternoon 4pm-6pm at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon- 61980 Skyline Ranch Rd, Bend, OR 97703. Co-facilitated by Tara Breitenbucher (imagineapath.com) and Steven Biesmann (www.livingpresence.co), both Certified Focusing Trainers, who also provide introductory workshops and training for those wanting more instruction in Focusing. This group welcomes people of various levels of experience with Focusing - from those who know nothing about Focusing, to those who have Focused in partnership for decades, and all of those in-between. Each month, a participant or facilitator presents a brief topic on Focusing before participants pair off for exchanges, and then reconvene to the larger group to debrief from the exchanges if desired. People new to Focusing will be invited to observe, and resources for further instruction will be provided. RSVP with Steven Biesmann 541-410-9039 (stbiesmann@gmail.com), or Tara Breitenbucher 541-905-0500 (tara@imagineapath.com) and check the Focusing In Community Facebook webpage for a monthly schedule at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1426121857466671/

This workshop will be for those who have taken a first introductory workshop or clinician's workshop, or those who have had some other formal instruction in Focusing. There will be some small amount of instruction, but the workshop will almost entirely consist of practicing the role of companion. We'll discuss challenges that come up in exchanges, learn from each other on how to be better Focusing partners, and all get to do a lot of Focusing. A workshop like this, or some other formal practice and instruction, is essential if you want to participate in Focusing exchanges the free monthly our Changes group. Even if you've already been to a Focusing partnership workshop this would be great practice and a chance to further explore Focusing in partnership further. If you're interested contact Tara Breitenbucher at 541-905-0500 or at tara@imagineapath.com

Having suffered from postpartum anxiety and panic attacks myself, I fully understand the devastating affects that anxiety can have on our lives. Although more people are anxious than depressed now in America, popular treatments are often quick fixes and bandaids that don't address the underlying causes. To treat anxiety we need to become tolerant of physical sensations, gain understanding and support around profound and terrifying feelings of dread, find ways to ground ourselves in what feels safe, and practice gaining a whole-mind perspective that calms our nervous system and allows for what is real in the moment to be fully experienced, rather than what our brains are imagining. I teach a mindfulness-like process, called Focusing, that helps us to accomplish all of these aims. It can be learned in a workshop, but needs to be practiced for full benefit. Though, unlike many other mindfulness practices, Focusing could be practiced in just 5 min a day. 

In this workshop you will...

• Learn how Focusing, a long- studied, internationally known, and widely applied mindfulness process, practiced only 5 minutes a day can greatly reduce your anxiety symptoms and increase your sense of wellbeing
• Practice ways to reduce your daily stress and to calm your nervous system, thereby reducing symptoms
• Gain understanding about, and control over, your emotional and behavioral reactions
• Find and expand your safe grounding, so you have access to it whenever you become overwhelmed

For those with social anxiety, this workshop will be a small group and no group communication will be required. There will be time for participants to share with the group if they desire. If you avoid groups because of anxiety, this will be a very safe environment for you to experiment with addressing your symptoms in similar situations.   

Call me for a free phone consultation to see if this workshop is right for you. Registration is $100 per participant. Registration closes June 1st. 

Do you often feel you’re your own worst enemy, working against your most valued goals and disconnected from what allows you to thrive? Focusing is a long-studied, well-researched process that will give you the tools to be with yourself in a whole new way, helping you to find and resolve parts of yourself that may be sabotaging your ability to take control of your life. It's similar to mindfulness, but goes several steps further. Once learned, it’s a process you can do on your own, without a therapist, doctor, teacher or guru. It gives you back your own power to define exactly what you want in life and the next steps needed to actualize that vision. 

In this workshop you will learn how to:

Access inner experience, gaining information otherwise overlooked

Get beyond feeling stuck in your life, habits, or creative endeavors

Begin to heal parts of yourself that you may have neglected

Be with yourself and others in an entirely different way

Become a better decision maker and communicator

This workshop will be held on Sunday, May 20th, 2018, from 10am-4pm (including lunch break), at 115 NW Greeley, in Bend, Oregon. The cost is based on you paying what you think it’s worth at the end of the day. To register for the workshop, or for more information, please contact Tara Breitenbucher at 541-905-0500. Not sure if a workshop is right for you? Contact Tara for a one-to-one Focusing session to better determine if a workshop is the next right step.

Tara Renee Breitenbucher is a licensed professional counselor and owner of Imagine A Path, counseling and workshops for inner and interpersonal growth. She has a holistic psychotherapy practice for individuals and couples in Bend, Oregon.

For any practitioners of any of the healing arts- psychotherapy, massage therapy, medical professionals, yoga teachers, etc. On April 15th I'll be teaching a workshop for clinicians on a mindfulness-like process called Focusing through COCC that will offer 6 continuing education credits to the equivalents of LPCs, LCSWs, RNs. The information could apply to anyone working with clients in a healing manner. You'll learn an engaged mindfulness technique that you and your clients can use everyday, on your own, or with others. You'll be able to show your clients/patients how to be more accepting and open to discomfort so that it can have a chance at being resolved, and how to attend to an inner awareness so that they're less reactive and have a clearer understanding of their own barriers to wellness. Space will be limited and registration is open here... Focusing for Clinicians Workshop

I will be speaking about Focusing Oriented Psychotherapy to clinicians at Clinician's Network of Bend and Central Oregon's monthly luncheon on Friday, February 16th.  The luncheon is open to members and non-members alike. For more information and to RSVP see their website-http://www.cliniciansnetwork.org/monthly-luncheon/

Introduction to Focusing workshop will be provided on January 21st by my colleague, Steven Biesmann. who incorporates Focusing into his spiritual direction practice. See his flyer below...

Wanting something more? Feeling stuck?  Wanting to move forward?

Do you have a sense of your life that you could be living more fully....

Do you have unfulfilled desires and goals that have not yet happened?

Focusing is a way of coming to realize new possibilities in the situations in your life and taking steps to move forward in life-giving directions.  Focusing clarifies what was unclear by tapping into the wisdom inherent in our whole being - body, mind, and feeling.  It brings Balance, Understanding, and an increased sense of well-being through an inner practice that can be done alone or with a partner.  Akin to mindfulness, meditation, or sensing exercises - But unique in its simplicity and depth, it can bring the way forward to the next steps you are wanting to take in your life.

In this Workshop you will -

• Learn the process of Focusing
• Learn about Focusing attitudes - accepting, interested and curious 
• Learn why Focusing works
• Practice getting in touch with inner insights 
• Practice Focusing 

This workshop is designed for people who are new to Focusing or want a a deepening of their Skill in Focusing.  There is no prerequisite .  The workshop is mainly to learn and be able to practice the Focusing Process alone.  The workshop will be 50% - information / 50% - experiential.  Knowing how to Focus will prepare you for the second introductory workshop on FOCUSING PARTNERSHIPS, offered February 18, 2018 Sunday 10am - 4pm at the same location.

Steven Biesmann will be leading the workshop, assisted by Tara Breitenbucher - Both of whom are Certified Focusing Trainers by The International Focusing Institute.  

Steven is a local Spiritual Director who has been in practice for 17 years and has recently given workshops and trainings in Focusing at the NW Regional Focusing conferences and the International Summer Program where he assisted with the Spirituality and Focusing Seminar Tract.  Tara is a local psychotherapist who uses Focusing in her practice.  Steven and Tara are facilitators for the ongoing Focusing Group that meets monthly in Bend for Focusing exchanges in partnerships.  Their dedication and valuation for Focusing provides a safe, an enjoyable environment for exploration and practice.  Their combined experience offers participants a depth and breadth that is uniquely valuable. The fee for the workshop is Donation.  You offer what you can according to the value you receive.   Maximum number of participants is 10. If you are sensing this workshop is right for you -  Reserve your place today - Contact Steven or Tara. Not sure if this workshop is right for you or need more information - contact Steven at stbiesmann@gmail.com or 541-410-9039 or Tara at tara@imagineapath.com or 206-303-0653.

Every first Sunday from 5pm-7pm, I'll be hosting a group for anyone interested in learning more about creating and sustaining healthy relationships. The groups will be drop-in and donation based. Both couples and individuals are welcome. I'll be discussing a topic, facilitate a group discussion, and provide homework for those who want to take what they learned home with them. The first group will be December 3rd, and every 1st Sunday after that. The topics will be different every month for 4-5 months and then repeat. So far, topics included are, but may not be limited to, attachment, communication, intimacy, and dealing with conflict. People are welcome to come for repeated topics for as long as the group is helpful to them.

All are welcome! The group will be held in Mandala Midwifery's clinic, though the group is open to any couple or individual willing to participate. Couples may be with or without children, of any sexual orientation, and any duration or quality of togetherness. Individuals participating may be single and wanting to learn more for their next relationship, or individuals in a couple who are not both present. Please only bring infants if necessary, as older children may be distracting. 

January 7th- We'll be discussing communication. We'll explore all the ways we communicate without meaning to, how we fail to communicate when we mean to, and how we often misinterpret or unknowingly rely on "mind-reading." Relationships can become surprisingly rich, and significantly easier, once both people are committed to increasing the clarity, frequency and intention in their communicating.

We'll explore where in our daily schedules we are able to commit to conscious communication, despite busy days full of kids or work, and there will be 2 take home exercises. One exercise will guide you to through a particular way of communicating aimed to increase understanding, validation, and empathy, even on topics upon which you don't and won't ever agree. The second exercise will help you create healthy communication habits beginning with short, specific daily checkins focused on your relationship, while keeping them from becoming long, drawn out, "relationship talks," that often turn into arguments. 

Every first Sunday from 5pm-7pm, I'll be hosting a group for anyone interested in learning more about creating and sustaining healthy relationships. The groups will be drop-in and donation based. Both couples and individuals are welcome. I'll be discussing a topic, facilitate a group discussion, and provide homework for those who want to take what they learned home with them. The first group will be December 3rd, and every 1st Sunday after that. The topics will be different every month for 4-5 months and then repeat. So far, topics included are, but may not be limited to, attachment, communication, intimacy, and dealing with conflict. People are welcome to come for repeated topics for as long as the group is helpful to them.

All are welcome! The group will be held in Mandala Midwifery's clinic, though the group is open to any couple or individual willing to participate. Couples may be with or without children, of any sexual orientation, and any duration or quality of togetherness. Individuals participating may be single and wanting to learn more for their next relationship, or individuals in a couple who are not both present. Please only bring infants if necessary, as older children may be distracting. 

December 3rd- The healthy relationship: How do we create and maintain one? We'll briefly cover the chemical states of attachment, stages of relationships, how to reattach and stay curious and connected with each other, and how to avoid the 4 factors that have been thoroughly researched/documented to destroy relationships- criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. There will be an optional home exercise to see if any of these 4 have taken over, and one aimed at helping you to reinvest in your partner and foster reattachment.

Tara Renee Breitenbucher is a licensed therapist and educator who provides psychotherapy to individuals and couples in her private practice in Bend, Oregon. She's been seeing couples in her practice since 2009, helping couples arrive at a better understanding of their dynamics and negative cycles, creating the space for them to feel safe in trying out another way of being with each other and in the world, and giving them the opportunity to work together to turn their negative cycles into positive ones. She primarily relies on concepts from Emotionally Focused, Imago, Focusing-Oriented, and Existential Therapy. For more information on her work with couples or individuals, please see her website at Imagineapath.com

Focusing in Partnership Workshop

This workshop is for anyone who has had an introduction to Focusing, but who wants to deepen their process by learning how to Focus with someone else. Whether you’ve never focused with another person, or if you’ve been Focusing in partnership for some time, this workshop will help you to deepen your Focusing practice, examine challenges, and increase the effectiveness of your process. This will be a collaborative workshop, giving you a chance to share what you’ve learned through Focusing, discuss issues that have come up while Focusing with others, and explore what makes for a supportive Focusing partner.

In this workshop you will:

Discuss obstacles to avoid and ways to become a supportive Focusing partner

Have the opportunity to Focus with several different partners

Deepen and share your Focusing process with others

Have time to share difficulties and benefits in Focusing in partnership

Connect you with others in the Focusing community

We’ll meet on Sunday, September 17th, 2017, from 10am-4pm (including lunch break), at 19800 Village Office Ct. Suite 105. in Bend, Oregon. The cost of this workshop is based on you paying what you think it’s worth at the end of the day. To register for the workshop or for more information, please contact Tara Breitenbucher at 206-303-0653, or visit her website at imagineapath.com. Please RSVP as soon as possible as space is limited.

Tara Renee Breitenbucher is a licensed professional counselor and owner of Imagine A Path, counseling and workshops for inner and interpersonal growth. She has a holistic psychotherapy practice for individuals and couples in Bend, Oregon.

INNER AWARENESS WORKSHOP: BECOMING LESS REACTIVE AND FINDING INNER CALM

Do you often feel you’re your own worst enemy, working against your most valued goals and disconnected from what allows you to thrive? Focusing is a long-studied, well-researched process that will give you the tools to be with yourself in a whole new way, helping you to find and resolve parts of yourself that may be sabotaging your ability to take control of your life. It’s similar to mindfulness, but goes several steps beyond. Once learned, it’s a process you can do on your own or with another, but without a therapist, doctor, teacher, or guru. It gives you back your own power to define exactly what you want in life and the next steps needed to actualize that vision.

In this workshop you will learn how to:

Get beyond feeling stuck in your life, habits, or creative endeavors

Begin to heal parts of yourself that you may have neglected

Access inner awareness, gaining control of your reactions

Be with yourself and others in an entirely different way

Become a better decision maker and communicator

On Sunday, August 13th, 2017, from 10am-4pm (including lunch break), at 19800 Village Office Ct. Suite 105. in Bend, Oregon. The cost of this workshop is based on you paying what you think it’s worth at the end of the day. Please RSVP as soon as possible as space is limited.To register for the workshop or for more information, please contact Tara Breitenbucher at 206-303-0653, or visit her website at imagineapath.com. Not sure if a workshop is right for you? Contact Tara for a one-to-one Focusing session to better determine if a workshop is the next right step.

Tara Renee Breitenbucher is a licensed professional counselor and owner of Imagine A Path, counseling and workshops for inner and interpersonal growth. She has a holistic psychotherapy practice for individuals and couples in Bend, Oregon.