Hakomi Schools and Careers Guide
What is Hakomi?
Hakomi is an experiential psychotherapy that combines the mindfulness and non-violence of Eastern spiritual traditions, within a unique, highly-effective Western methodology. Drawing from a wide range of sources, Hakomi has evolved into a complex, elegant and effective form of psychotherapy. At its most basic level, Hakomi is the therapeutic expression of a specific set of Principles: Unity; Mind/Body/Spirit Holism; Uniqueness of the Individual; Mindfulness; Nonviolence; Truth and Change. These tenets inform every aspect of the work.
Hakomi is a creative modality in work with individuals, couples, families, groups, movement and body work. Suitable for crisis work, it finds its full potential, however, in the process of growth both personal and trans-personal, when we are committed to moving beyond our limits. Hakomi has also been effectively applied to a wide variety of everyday activities: athletics, theater, parenting, business—because Hakomi attends to the very nature of being human, it is easily adapted to support whatever tasks and adventures people pursue.
How is Hakomi practiced?
There are four essential practices:
- The Practice of Loving Presence: Participants learn how to create and sustain compassionate states of mind through specific, concrete step by step procedures. Once compassion is stabilized, we practice interacting as compassionate givers and receivers, in pairs and small groups. Through these processes, participants develop self-awareness, understanding and forgiveness. For therapists, this practice greatly reduces burnout while creating the context for powerful, deep work with clients.
- Quieting the Mind: Participants learn to sustain a calm, sensitive, present-centered state of mind. Mindfulness is learned and practiced. The basic idea is to become calm and to stay calm, while being present for others as well as for oneself. This sensitive, calm presence is the necessary state of mind for effectively using the Hakomi Method.
- Non-Verbal Awareness: In this component, participants learn to consciously and quickly read and understand nonverbal messages conveyed by facial expressions, bodily postures and gestures, tone of voice and pacing. All of these carry messages of great importance that may not be conveyed in any other way. Those sending the messages may not even be aware that they are doing so. Some of the primary "people skills" that enhance any professional or personal relationship are based on this kind of communication.
- Emotional Nourishment: In this component of the Hakomi Method, we work with discovering the blocks to accepting emotional nourishment and finding gentle acceptable ways in which people can change their minds and become available for such things as kindness, love, praise and help from others.
In the Hakomi Experiential Method Practice Level, participants who have completed the Personhood Series learn more about the techniques and skills of the Hakomi Method. You will explore the many ways people express themselves, verbally and nonverbally, in order to help each other understand and transcend old limiting beliefs and habitual behaviors. In the Practice Level you'll learn to lose the method to discover how you organize experience based on these core patterns, land to help each other fin ways to be more authentic and compassionate, more connected with each other and with life.
Hakomi is called a method of self-study. The Hakomi therapist is not studying his client; rather, he is helping his client to study himself. This attitude of curiosity is so important to Hakomi work that Hakomi therapists are trained to model a non-judgmental, open-minded curiosity and to operate out of this attitude when working with clients.
Where can I get training?
- North Carolina
Body Therapy Institute - Siler City
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