ABOUT HAKOMI

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THE HAKOMI METHOD

The Hakomi Method of Body Centered Psychotherapy was created by
the internationally renown therapist and author, Ron Kurtz, with
assistance of a core group of his colleagues. A synthesis of philoso-
phies, techniques and approaches, Hakomi has its own artistry, form,
and organic process. The method draws from general systems theory
and body centered therapies such as Reichian work, Bio-energetics,
Gestalt, Psychomotor, Feldenkrais, Structural Bodywork, Ericksonian
Hypnosis, Focusing, and Neurolinguistic Programming. Hakomi’s
core principles of gentleness, compassion, mindfulness, and going
with the grain, stem from Buddhism and Taoism. Over time, Hakomi
has evolved into a complex, elegant and highly effective form of
psychotherapy.

Hakomi is the therapeutic expression of a specific set of Principles:
Unity, Mind/Body/Spirit Holism, Organicity, Mindfulness and Non-
Violence. These tenets inform every aspect of the work. The first
concern of Hakomi trainers is to encourage our students to under-
stand and work within these Principles, to make them deep and con-
sistent with who they are and how they work. This means a heart felt,
long-term commitment to their own growth, both personal and pro-
fessional. We support students in finding their own style and creat-
ivity in the unique application of their work. The goal is to turn out
high quality, caring therapists who are as dedicated to the full cog-
nizance of their own processes as they are to understanding of others.

CORE MATERIAL

Hakomi helps people change “core material.” Core material is com-
posed of deeply-held emotional attitudes, memories, images, neural
patterns and beliefs. This material expresses itself through the styles,
habits,behaviors and attitudes which make us the individuals we are.
Our feelings, bodies, perceptions and actions are continually guided
by core material, around themes like: safety, belonging, support, love,
appreciation, independence, freedom, responsibility, openness, con-
trol, power, sexuality, spirituality, etc. Some of this material supports
our being who we wish to be, while some of it, learned in response to
difficult situations, continues to limit us. Hakomi allows the client to
distinguish between the two and to willingly modify any material that
restricts his or her wholeness.

THE METHOD

In pursuing this material, the Hakomi Method follows a certain general
outline. First we work to build a therapist-client relationship which
maximizes safety, respect and the cooperation of the unconscious.
With a good working relationship established, we then help the client
focus on and study how he or she organizes experience. It is in the way
each individual organizes experience that core material exerts influence
and reveals itself.

To begin this study, we establish and use a distinct state of conscious-
ness called Mindfulness. Mindfulness is characterized by relaxed
volition, a gentle and sustained focus of attention inward, heightened
sensitivity, and the ability to notice and name the contents of conscious-
ness.

The heart of the Method is the precise study of the client’s current
experience, as a way to discover how their core material is organized.
These experiences are either naturally occurring, or deliberately and
gently evoked by having the client participate in carefully designed
“experiments.”For example, the client might be asked to allow and care-
fully notice whatever responses happens inside of him or her, while
making a certain gesture or while listening to a statement said by the
therapist. Once felt within the client’s being, the core material can be
then studied, processed, and transformed.

The basic method, then, is three-fold: (1) to establish a relationship in
which it is safe for a client to be mindful, (2) to notice or evoke exper-
iences that lead to the discovery of organizing core material, and (3) to
provide the opportunity for this core material to be transformed. All
elseis done in support of this primary process.


UNIQUE STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The experiences and core material of the client are processed through
three different state-specific methods: (1) assisting the release and
satisfaction of strong emotions and bound energy; (2) Providing missing
experiences for the Inner Child and other specific Self-States of being;
and (3) Processing core beliefs in mindfulness, acquiring meaning of
the experiences to help the client emerge with a new mode of being to
practicein everyday life.

Hakomi is effective and appropriate in all kinds of therapeutic situations,
such as with individuals, couples, families, groups, movement, and body
-work. It is suitable for crisis work and psychological maintenance, and
it finds its full potential in the processes of growth, both personal and
transpersonal, when we are committed to moving beyond our limits.

By Ron Kurtz,
Edited by Ella Solin & Joanna Shandro.