Annette Dubreuil

Annette Dubreuil is a Focusing teacher, facilitator and environmentalist, and the founder of PUPA Focusing. Based in Toronto, she describes her work as embodied creativity for a better world. She helps people return to their bodies, listen to their inner wisdom with compassion, and move from stress toward resilience.

She grew up on the northeast shores of Lake Superior, in Wawa, Ontario, and has been passionate about the environment since childhood. She began her higher education in environmental science, then completed an MBA in sustainability and strategy at Schulich. After graduating she worked for over a decade in communications supporting research projects. In 2012 she found Focusing, which helped her greatly. She felt she had to teach it, and in time came to see that being grounded in the body connects us to the Earth and opens the heart.

PUPA Focusing, which she started in 2020, mainly teaches Eugene Gendlin's classic six steps of Focusing. It draws on research in neuroscience, trauma and compassion, and it is oriented toward taking action. The name works as a metaphor and an acronym. A pupa is the safe space where a caterpillar transforms, and the acronym PUP2A (Pause, Understanding, Permutation, Preparing, Action) maps the phases of the work. She offers courses, workshops, group practice and private sessions. Safety, including attuned and empathic listening, is central to her approach.

Her work also draws on Theory U, Thinking At the Edge, Social Presencing Theatre and Dynamic Facilitation, and she uses Focusing to work with climate emotions and climate action. In 2024 she was named Coordinator with The International Focusing Institute, where she offers training for those who wish to become Focusing Facilitators or Trainers.