[5][6] Eventually her discoveries of what worked best for the majority of people, combined with the input, inspiration, and insights of her British collaborator Barbara McGavin,[4][7] evolved into Inner Relationship Focusing in the 1990s.
[5][2] A major feature of IRF is gently finding out how a specific aspect or felt experience feels from its point of view.
[5][22][6] For instance, rather than clearing a space, IRF uses a mental scan of the body for what feels open and alive, and what needs acknowledging – without moving any issue "out" – in order to more fully accept or find what may be wanting attention.
[22][2][25][26] An important principle in Inner Relationship Focusing is not denying or exiling any thoughts, feelings, or partial selves – not even the inner critic – but rather empathizing with all parts and aspects and sensing what they want to communicate and why.
[2][6] Since the early 1990s Cornell has taught Inner Relationship Focusing throughout the U.S. at venues including Esalen,[30] the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine,[31] and the American Psychological Association,[31] and also around the world.
[35][36][37] Psychologist and self-help author Helene Brenner calls Inner Relationship Focusing "one of the most powerful techniques I know for emotional healing".
[38] CC Leigh, whose Inseeing Process of self-healing and spiritual growth is largely based on IRF,[39] calls Inner Relationship Focusing a "highly refined technology for getting in touch with the inner dynamics that typically lie beneath the threshold of awareness, and befriending them from a state of Presence so they can open up and organically evolve".