Hakomi

Domain IV · Body-oriented psychotherapy · Ron Kurtz · 1979 · Boulder, Colorado

What it is

Hakomi is a body-centred, mindfulness-based psychotherapy developed by Ron Kurtz. Kurtz drew on Gestalt, Bioenergetics, Pesso, Feldenkrais, Rolfing, Taoism, Buddhism and systems theory, and moved away from forceful bioenergetic techniques towards nonviolence. He dates the start of the Hakomi…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Hakomi has no fixed session count or protocol. The stages below describe the arc of a single session or episode of work, and they recur across a course of therapy. The sources give no typical course length. A Hakomi Institute trainer advises against doing deep work of this kind in a first session: build mindfulness capacity and co-regulation first. Format: individual sessions of normal length, usually seated face to…
• Version followed: the Hakomi Institute method as summarised by Johanson (2015, SAGE encyclopedia entry) and taught from Weiss, Johanson & Monda (2015), Hakomi Mindfulness-Centered Somatic Psychotherapy (book not drawn on directly; its contents reach this guide only through Institute authors' papers), with Kurtz's original technique set (Kurtz 1990, via Altman's teaching paper). Where Ron Kurtz's later "Refined…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• The client being oriented, steady and clear before they leave.
• The behaviour easing by itself, followed by deeper emotion or a memory.
• Softening in both parts. Collusion with the pushing part deepens the split.
• Fixed lists of meanings. Kurtz and Marvin both warn against them; stay open.
• A client who feels watched or performs. Offer to reduce the number of helpers.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.