The Hakomi Method is an elegant,
comprehensive and highly effective approach to human change and development.
Hakomi is an in depth, mindfulness-based somatic modality originated in the
mid-1970’s by therapist and author Ron Kurtz as the Ron Kurtz Method of
Body-Centered Psychotherapy. Drawing from an enormous range of influences -
Buddhism and Taoism, physics, body-centered therapies such as Gestalt, Reichian
work, the Feldenkrais Method, Bioenergetics, Focusing, NLP and Ericksonian
Hypnosis, and General Systems Theory, it synthesized a pioneering approach to
somatic psychotherapy, combining mindfulness, gentleness and experiential
explorations of client behavior. In 1981, recognizing that the work stood on
its own, Ron formally changed the name of the work to the Hakomi Method, based
on a Hopi Indian word that asks “ how do you stand in relation to these many
realms” or, more simply, “who are you?” That same year, Ron and several of his
advanced students created the Hakomi Institute, a nonprofit educational
corporation whose purpose was to promote the work.
Its techniques are effective throughout
a wide range of therapeutic applications such as individual, couples and family
therapy, and group work as
well as in educational settings to facilitate self-exploration and personal
growth. It is backed by
thousands of hours of clinical applications and volumes of evidence research
into the neurological underpinnings of mindfulness and core psychological
belief systems.
For over 30 years Hakomi has pioneered and integrated the use of
mindfulness in the psychodynamic process. Hakomi utilizes the present moment as
a rapid and experiential access route to unconscious material. Guided by the
principles of Mindfulness and Non-violence, the Hakomi Method is a gentle, respectful,
compassionate and thus powerful form of personal exploration that uses the
wisdom of the body to pursue core evolution and deepen awareness beyond
insight. Hakomi follows Frieda Fromm Reichman’s advice, “The patient needs an
experience, not an explanation.” Typical therapeutic outcomes include lasting
change in deeply held emotional attitudes, beliefs and behavior.
The basis of the work is threefold:
to
create a bonded relationship that allows enough safety for the client to
turn inwards and explore present experiences (cognitive, somatic,
emotional, energetic, spiritual, etc.)
to
follow those experiences towards the core material that generates them
to
pursue ways to heal and evolve the core material
