Reflective Presence: a Buddhist Hakomi Training
Hakomi
Hakomi invites participants into an exploration of growth and healing using experiential methods, including Hakomi Body Centered Psychotherapy. Self-study, the practice of loving presence, group process and skill development are all integral parts of the experience.
The training moves from self-study to developing a sense of spaciousness- relaxing habitual reactions in order to open to new possibilities. You learn mindfulness and how to interact with each other in ways that cultivate trust, appreciation and rapport. You practise relating in ways that are nourishing. You discover how to create a context in which healing begins to unfold spontaneously. All this is done using the principles and techniques of the Hakomi Method as well as the exercises of the Practice of Loving Presence.
As you progress, we begin to slowly shift the emphasis from self-study to experiential method. You continue the personal work begun in the first phase and we add a new focus on therapeutic skills. These skills are natural extensions of the personal work, with the ability to create loving and healing relationships. They are also specific, well-described and teachable. Personal healing processes continue to happen in the large and small groups, as you practise the method through observing, using it with each other, and integrating it into your professional work. The group bonding and trust levels deepen as you continue to use the method to explore personal issues and to support each others’ healing and spiritual growth. The learning is experiential, organic, creative, non-linear, personal, transformative, and spiritual. The group becomes a source of nourishment and healing for all.
By the third phase which is an advanced practice phase, you have begun to see clearly how your lives and relationships- both personal and professional- are influenced by the experience of this training. Supervised practice in the sessions is a large part of this phase, along with group process, demonstration, and discussion. As in phase one and two, you are encouraged to meet regularly in small study groups between sessions for peer practice.
The application of the method could be in one-to-one sessions, community groups, workshops, or in some other way more suited to your particular skills and interests. There is encouragement and support to integrate Hakomi in whatever you do - psychotherapy, bodywork, family counseling, conflict resolution, mediation, law, teaching, business, art therapy, parenting etc. This takes the work into a much wider context and offers the healing intelligence and love (wisdom and compassion) cultivated in the training back to the community and to the world.
The Hakomi Method:
The Hakomi Method is an approach both to learning about yourself and helping others to discover how they are organizing their experiences: their thoughts and beliefs, their self-image and world view.
The Hakomi Method is based on these principles:
- unity: everything is interconnected;
- organicity; healing happens from the inside out;
- mindfulness: a focus on paying attention to present experience;
- non-violence; working with what wants to happen and staying in a state of loving presence;
- Mind/body holism, or working at the interface of body and mind.
The Hakomi Method is based on the work of Ron Kurtz, who created the Hakomi Method of Body-Centered Psychotherapy, and who continued to develop the work until his death in 2011. Hakomi has evolved into an approach to personal development and human relations which expands the focus and application of the original Hakomi Method into a wide variety of settings for individuals, couples, families, communities, organizations agencies, and other health and wellness -focused groups.
We begin with a focus on self-study and move on to developing effective communication and relational skills based on compassion and perceptual wisdom. Students are introduced to the Hakomi Method through a variety of experiential practices to cultivate self-awareness and understanding, personal freedom and creativity, and a genuine appreciation of self and others. You begin to learn and practice some simple yet powerful ways to respond more effectively to suffering.
In the Practice Level, participants learn more about the techniques and skills of Hakomi Method. You will learn to use the method to discover how experience is organized and limited based on these core patterns, and to effectively; help others find ways to be more creative and fulfilled, to express themselves with authenticity and compassion to be nourished by Life
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The Applied Level is for those participants who, having completed the Practice level, wish to deepen their understanding and application of the Hakomi method for personal and /0or professional use, whether one-on-one or in groups.
In all levels of Hakomi, there is a primary focus on personhood, on the practice of loving presence, and on community development from a mind-body-spirit perspective, all of which provides the basis and fundamental motivation for the learning.
Be what you are: intelligence and love in action. (Nisargadatta Maharaj)
We do give anyone who participates in a Hakomi training a certificate of attendance at each level. We also offer a process whereby people trained in Hakomi can apply for certification as Hakomi practitioners.
There is a huge emphasis placed on personhood, presence, and self awareness, and on the subtle aspects of intelligent compassion and an experimental attitude. We encourage the creative use of your personal style within the principles of Hakomi and the practice of Loving Presence. The ability to provide a nourishing and transformational experience in a quietly simple manner and to respond appropriately to the nonverbal signals about what’s needed is the foundation of good Hakomi.
Hakomi: Criteria for Certification
We look for competency in the following elements of the method from people by the end of two to three years of training combined with extensive practical experience:
- Ability to sustain and demonstrate an attitude of loving presence in keeping with the principles and spirit of Hakomi.
- Evidence of healthy self-awareness and effective use of "personhood".
- Ability to sustain a focus of attention on present experience
- Ability to keep the client in present experience.
- Ability to describe, invoke, and use mindfulness effectively.
- Evidence of the ability to track and influence the client’s state of consciousness.
- Demonstration of tracking ability re client’s verbal expression.
- Demonstration of tracking ability re client’s nonverbal expression.
- Demonstration of the effective use of contact statements and acknowledgements.
- Evidence of appropriate hypotheses regarding client’s models of self (character patterns).
- Evidence of appropriate hypotheses regarding client’s models of the world.
- Effective use of verbal and nonverbal experiments to make conscious any; limiting beliefs.
- Effective delivery of verbal and nonverbal experiments including tracking the client’s reaction.
- Demonstration of directing the therapeutic process through accessing techniques.
- Demonstration of effective and appropriate use of taking over techniques.
- Demonstration of ability to recognize and adapt to unconscious needs.
- Ability to demonstrate an experimental attitude and to effectively make use of little experiments in mindfulness.
- Ability to respond appropriately and effectively to strong emotions.
- Ability to recognize opportunities and timing to go for meaning.
- Demonstration of timely interventions to go for meaning.
- Demonstration of a sustained focus on "what wants to happen here?"
- Ability to recognize and respond appropriately to a need for a nourishing experience (the missing experience).
- Ability to recognize the dynamics of a system and to "jump out of the system".
- Evidence of providing a suitable environment and appropriately timed interventions to facilitate the transformation of limiting core beliefs.
- Skillfulness in stabilizing and integrating the therapeutic experience.
- Skillful and appropriate pacing and completion of the session.
The keys, in short, are loving presence, mindfulness, tracking, contact, the effective use of an experimental attitude, and the creation of an appropriate nourishing experience.
Here are the categories we work to develop in Hakomi training:
- Personhood:
- Ability to sustain and demonstrate an attitude of loving presence in keeping with the principles and spirit of Hakomi. - Present Focus:
- Ability to sustain a focus of attention on present experience.
- Ability to keep the client in present experience. - Mindfulness:
- Ability to describe, invoke, and use mindfulness effectively. - Tracking:
- Evidence of the ability to track and influence the client’s state of consciousness.
- Demonstration of tracking ability re client’s verbal expression.
- Demonstration of tracking ability re client’s nonverbal expression. - Contact:
- Demonstration of the effective use of contact statements and acknowledgements.
- Understanding Core Material:
- Demonstration of ability to recognize and adapt to unconscious needs.
- Evidence of appropriate hypotheses regarding client’s models of self (character)
- Evidence of appropriate hypotheses regarding client’s models of the world.
- Ability to recognize opportunities and appropriate timing to go for meaning.
- Evidence of providing a suitable environment and appropriately timed interventions to facilitate the transformation of limiting core beliefs. - Accessing:
- Demonstration of directing the therapeutic process through accessing techniques.
- Ability to respond appropriately and effectively to strong emotions. - Probes:
- Use of effective verbal and nonverbal experiments to make conscious any limiting beliefs.
- Effective delivery of verbal and nonverbal experiments including tracking the client’s reaction. - Taking Over and other experiments:
- Demonstration of effective and appropriate use of taking over techniques.
- Ability to demonstrate an experimental attitude and to effectively make use of little experiments in mindfulness. - Going for Nourishment:
- Ability to recognize and respond appropriately to a need for a nourishing experience (the missing experience). - Managing the session:;
- Demonstration of a sustained focus on "what wants to happen here?"
- Ability to recognize the dynamics of a system and to "jump out of the system".
- Demonstration of skillfulness in stabilizing and integrating the therapeutic experience.
- Demonstration of skillful and appropriate pacing and completion of the session.
Reflective Presence: a Buddhist Hakomi Training
