Suzanne L. Noel

Who am I?

What a challenging question.

I am a poet, budding artist, Certified Recovery Focusing Trainer, and Mother. I occasionally do Spanish to English translations (fortunately, primarily for The Wildlife Conservation Society and The Inter-American Convention for the Protection of Sea Turtles). I love to write and walk in natural, wild settings.

I am a Sociologist/Anthropologist who came to Costa Rica in 1985 with the Peace Corps and stayed to become a small business owner on the lovely Caribbean coast. I enjoyed the creation of two successful businesses for 15 years: Color Caribe, on the coast, and, more recently, a clothing boutique, KLOI'S Wild Vine, which blended style, beauty, and comfort in cotton clothing made here in Costa Rica and imported from India and Bali.

More recently, I have devoted my time to Focusing Training/Coaching and my blossoming development as an artist, capturing the vibrant colors of tropical Costa Rica in vivid pastels and watercolors.

I have been practicing Focusing for over seven years and am a Certified Focusing Trainer. I am a member of the Inter-American Focusing Institute and the International Focusing Institute in New York. I was trained by Dr. Robert Lee, Certifying Coordinator for the Focusing Institute, in Domain Focusing.

I work with people individually, in person or by phone, and regularly give Intro to Focusing Workshops. I assist Dr. Robert Lee in his Focusing Partnership Course, Level I Workshops as Coach, and assist in training psychologists individually for his Focusing Oriented Psychotherapy Certification Program. I teach five-week long Domain Focusing Level I classes on a regular basis.

Here is how some people feel about working with me:

"Suzanne provides a wonderful, non-judgmental holding space in which one has freedom to explore one's internal world and at the same time learn an enormous amount about the technique of Focusing. Her coaching is clear and concise and infused with warmth and humor. I have so appreciated her wealth of knowledge relating to focusing, but above all, I have loved her warmth, openness and honesty."
(Brenda Cowley, Educational Psychologist,Med. Psychology University of Cape Town, South Africa.)

And from someone who recently received my one-on-one, eight-week Domain Focusing phone course:

"I'm very grateful for your guidance into my own worlds - your laughter and your empathy - It has made me feel welcome and brave as I got in to new territory. I don't think I have found something very special - I know I have. Focusing is the bridge - your listening is the light that hits the road and gently lets me know I's safe - I'm OK and there is another shore - even though I can't see it clearly - I meet myself on the other side - what a wonderful friend to meet." (Chris Nunan,Chief Consultant, MA Language and Psychology, Denmark)

My specialty is Recovery Focusing, a powerful crossing of Focusing with any addictive process. I also apply Focusing to Recovery from Sexual Abuse and am able to hold a safe, caring space for those who need to speak their truth and process their heartbreaking story.

I have training in Emotional Freedom Technique.

Being a "lay" person rather than a psychologist makes me easy to relax with for your focusing training, as Andrew Carlyle, Clinical Psychologist, states below:

"Perhaps at a deeper level, working with Suzanne evoked quite a surprising desire for greater contact with myself. I have become more and more aware of how much further focusing could take me. In contrast with psychotherapy, focusing seems to have met a curiosity about other, deeper levels of my experience. It was particularly valuable to work with Suzanne because she is not a psychotherapist. There has definitely been more freedom in the parameters she has brought, yet interestingly, I have never felt unsafe. The moving beyond an analytic mode and a preoccupation with feelings into this thing - a Felt Sense - has been refreshing and full of potential."

MORE ABOUT ME:

I was born in Colombia, South America, to American parents, grew up in Mexico, lived in New Jersey for 13 years, and have now resided in Costa Rica for over 23 years. I am fully bilingual and bi-cultural, soon to become a Naturalized Costa Rican citizen. I presently live part time in Brasil de Mora, in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, and part-time on the Caribbean coast.

Focusing has led me to a place of self love and personal creative power that cannot be adequately described. It continues to be a fascinating journey into unknown edges of my being; always intriguing, illuminating, and liberating.

I have extensive personal experience in 12 Step Recovery Programs and have been a frequent speaker at the U Latina University ¨Intro to Psychology¨ Class on The 12 Steps. I have had private and group therapy and also have experience with groups in general. I am quite able to hold a space for difficult or taboo issues. I can listen and guide in a Focusing Way anyone who is willing to transform their lives into a forward healing experience.

If you are ready and willing to change your life, I am ready and willing to train you in the Art of Focusing Partnership. Deep healing and insight await you in this dynamic, egalitarian relationship of Focusing Partnership.

Glad to have you here, visiting my site.

Keep Falling Into Your Heart.

Suzanne