Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy
Developed by therapist and author Ron Kurtz. Hakomi blends direct cognitive and emotional approaches with keen attention to the wisdom of the body. It helps clients access implicit memories, stored beneath words, in the body.
Through self-awareness we can uncover unconscious beliefs and behaviours that impact our relationship with ourselves, others, and the world. And through direct experience we can re-establish healthy patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
Learn ways to short circuit old patterns of reactivity, re-orient to the present moment, learn to tolerate feelings and bodily sensations, and learn how to self-regulate.
What are the principles and methodology of Hakomi?
Hakomi is a Hopi Indian word which means, “Who am I in relation to these many realms?”
In Hakomi therapy we help you to become aware of these realms of your internal world: your thoughts and images, your physical body and its sensations, your memories, and your core beliefs. Hakomi therapy follows five principles which are based on Buddhist philosophy:
Mindfulness - You direct your attention to your inner reality, observing your inner self from the viewpoint of a benevolent observer who does not judge things as right or wrong, good or bad; things are just as they are.
Unity - We are all connected to each other as human beings, to other sentient beings, to the universe. In this connection we share experiences and responsibility for each other.
Non-violence - As a Hakomi therapist, I respect the wisdom of your being; I work with you, I do not push you, decide for you or block your process in any way. I also practice non-violence towards myself in our therapeutic relationship by respecting my own integrity.
Organicity - Things unfold in their own rhythm and with their own wisdom. As a therapist, I allow your process to unfold, trusting its rightness, rather than holding an agenda of my own about what should happen in our therapy together.
Mind/Body Wholism - The mind and the body are not separate entities but are interrelated so that what affects the mind also affects the body and vice versa.
How does it work?
Neuroscience is now demonstrating that therapy can help us to re-wire our brains, creating new neurological pathways, which can result in new ways of thinking and new core beliefs.
Early in our developmental history we created strategies to meet overwhelm and dysregulation of experiences we were unable to tolerate and metabolise at the time. These strategies are wired into neural networks and largely beyond conscious awareness but none-the-less continue to shape our life.
Embodied mindfulness, through direct experiencing, provides a powerful means of both accessing this implicit neural wiring and creating the conditions necessary to support the development of alternative neural networks.
A Hakomi therapist is trained to help you discover and change habitual physical and psychological patterns that impede optimal functioning and well-being. And with awareness, change is possible!
Psychotherapy and the treatment of trauma
Trauma is an experience that we have that overwhelms our capacity to cope. Trauma treatment is not about telling stories from the past. Trauma treatment is about helping you to be here now, to help you to tolerate what you feel and experience right in the present. It is possible to unlearn the nervous systems response to trauma and learn how to tolerate and integrate traumatic memory, and to build powerful inner resources to prevent over stimulation and shutdown.
Working with the Story the Body Is Telling (Somatic Narrative)
An advantage of body-oriented psychotherapy is we do not need many words. The body remembers. The body records everything. Whatever happened in the past your body holds the culmination of all those things and thus the body knows how to heal. Through allowing the impulses in the body, the body can process and find its own resolution.
What can Hakomi Psychotherapy Help With?
Hakmomi is a flexible model that can help with a wide range of challenges, including:
Anxiety
Difficulty concentrating due to fear, upsetting thoughts, or unwelcome physical (body) sensations
Intense and disturbing emotional reactions that seem out of place with the present situation
Post-traumatic stress: abuse, attack, accidents, flashbacks, nightmares. Feeling frozen or stuck in familiar circumstances without understanding why
Difficulty enjoying life, feeling hopeful, and experiencing pleasure
Relationship related wounds: neglect, harsh parenting during childhood, divorce, child-parent separations
Persistent and regular negative thoughts about one’s ability to achieve, be successful and deserving
Difficulty maintaining a job, a family, friendships, and other relationships
Feeling detached from oneself and the world
Grief and loss
Eating disorders
To learn more about Hakomi and discuss whether it may be a helpful modality for you please contact Lea.