Hakomi Therapy

Hakomi is a present-moment-centered, graceful, paradoxically powerful method for supporting growth and healing. The power flows from the congruence of Hakomi’s methods and techniques with the underlying principles and assumptions which guide it.

The unity principle assumes that, as people, we are living, organic systems who are integral wholes, made up of parts, who also participate in larger systems. The interdependency of all levels of the system from the metabolic, to the intra-psychic, to the interpersonal, to the family-communal-cultural-spiritual are taken seriously in Hakomi.

organicity assumes that when all the parts are communicating within the whole, the system is self-directing and self-correcting; that it has an inner wisdom or mind of its own. Many Hakomi techniques revolve around helping persons negotiate barriers to communication between inner and outer parts, so that integrity is regained through immediate contact with what is needed or wanted in relation to the self and the world.

Hakomi Therapy:

The Integration of Mindfulness, Non-Violence and the Body in Growth and Healing

The principle of mind-body holism affirms that mind and body jointly manifest and reflect the beliefs we hold about ourselves and the world, which in turn organize how we creatively experience and express ourselves in life. Hakomi has a number of ways of using the mind-body connection to help bring to awareness the memories and beliefs we employ to construct meaning in our lives.

A powerful tool for helping persons study the organization of their experience is mindfulness; an exploratory, relaxed and alert, non-ordinary (though non-hypnotic), state of consciousness, which allows us to get beyond our normal, habitual thoughts and actions to the often richly-non-verbal intuitions of our deeper truths. The process also supports the mobilization of our essential or core selves, which have a presence, centeredness, compassion and wisdom that transcends the limitations of our historical experience.

non-violence is a principle which promotes safe, non-forceful, cooperative self-exploration through honoring the signs and signals of our organic processes, especially those that manifest as ‘resistance.’ In contrast to confronting or overpowering such ‘defenses,’ Hakomi methods respect and literally support such occurrences, which then allows them to be befriended for the wisdom they contain, and willingly yielded when appropriate.

Transformation occurs in Hakomi when awareness is turned mindfully toward felt, present experience; hopes and fears unfold into consciousness; barriers to new ways of being are attended to; and new experiences are integrated that allow for the reorganization of core beliefs, which in turn allow for a greater range of mental, physical, emotional coherence and movement. Transforming core material often involves working with Child Consciousness in the context of re-experienced memories, and working supportively with the spontaneous release of strong emotion and energy, as well as eliciting the cooperation of the unconscious to dialogue directly with it in mindfulness.

Hakomi principles and methods have applications in individual, couples, and family therapy; body work which supports expanded awareness, and organizational consultation.

Origins

Ron Kurtz is the Founder of the Hakomi Institute and the pioneer originator of Hakomi Therapy. Kurtz brought to his study of therapy a background in English, physics, the sciences of complexity and living, organic systems, as well as years of exposure to Buddhism (mindfulness) and Taoism (non-violence.) In addition to pioneering unique techniques, he has, through the matrix of the above principles, integrated into Hakomi, the insights of psychodynamic character theory; the experience-near awareness tools of Gestalt and Psychodrama; the reflective consciousness of Focusing, NLP, and Pesso-Boiden Psycho-motor Movement; the body-psychology of Reich, Pierrakos, Feldenkrais, Rolf, and others; and more recently, Richard Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems model.

The training provides an overview of the principles, method, and techniques of Hakomi Therapy. It includes theory presentations, demonstrations, exercises, and supervised practice that underlines both the linear structure of the method, as well as the unique artistry of keying off the spontaneous in any process. It is a highly experiential format that explores the spirit of the work in both the ‘being’ and ‘doing’ aspects of the healing relationship, and calls on participants to alternate in practice sessions between functioning as therapist and client.

A variety of persons are appropriate for the training including mental health professionals, substance abuse counselors, marriage and family counselors, pastoral counselors and spiritual directors, body and energy workers, chiropractors, naturopaths, and physicians who work with body structure, expressive-arts therapists, and other individuals interested in exploring the integration of mindfulness, non-violence, and mind-body holism in growth and healing. It is beneficial for applicants to have previous experience in Hakomi workshops and/or personal sessions before applying.

A certificate of completion is granted upon finishing the training. Official certification as a “Hakomi Therapist” is competency based and may be pursued through a “Certification Phase Individual Study Plan.” There will be opportunities to build on and expand the knowledge base of this training for those interested in doing more.

The Hakomi Institute

The Hakomi Institute is a non-profit, educational corporation which provides workshops and trainings in Hakomi Therapy throughout the United States, Europe, and Australia-New Zealand. The home office is in Boulder, Colorado (PO Box 1873, 80306; Tel: 888/421-6699). All trainings are approved for continuing education credit through the National Board for Certified Counselors (Provider #5476). Trainings in local areas can obtain approval from other bodies relevant to the needs of the students.

Academic credit may be awarded for Hakomi Trainings through “Universities without Walls” programs, and by special, normally prior, arrangement with local educational institutions. The Hakomi Institute is also a Professional Specialty Program of the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, which means students enrolled in SBGI’s doctoral programs in Somatic Psychology and Clinical Psychology may receive up to 30 hours credit towards their doctorates by taking Hakomi Trainings.

The main sources for Hakomi Therapy are Ron Kurtz, Body-Centered Psychotherapy: The Hakomi Method (Mendocino: LifeRhythm, 1990), Greg Johanson and Ron Kurtz, Grace Unfolding: Psychotherapy in the Spirit of the Tao-te ching (New York: Bell Tower, 1991), Rob Fisher, Experiential Psychotherapy with Couples: A Guide for the Creataive Pragmatist (Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen, Inc., 2002), Pata Ogden, Kekuni Minton, & Clare Pain, Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006) & the annual journal of the Institute, the Hakomi Forum.