Reflective Presence: a Buddhist Hakomi Training
Training in the Hakomi Experiential Method
The Hakomi Experiential Method is based on the work and creative genius
of Ron Kurtz, who wrote Body-Centered Psychotherapy: the Hakomi Method,
and who continues to develop and write about the work.
Hakomi Experiential Method (HEM) has now evolved into a whole approach
to personal development and human relations which expands the focus and application
of the original Hakomi Method into a wide variety of other settings for individuals,
couples, families, communities, organizations, agencies, and other health
and wellness-focused lay and professional groups.
Hakomi Experiential Method training begins by establishing a focus
on self-study and moves on to developing effective communication and relational
skills based on mindfulness, compassion, and perceptual wisdom including
good listening skills.
In the Personhood Series participants are introduced to Hakomi through
a variety of experiential practices to cultivate more gentle self-awareness
and understanding, qualities of personal freedom and creativity, and a genuine
appreciation for oneself and others. You’ll begin to learn and practice
some simple yet powerful ways to respond more effectively to suffering.
In the Practice (Skills) Level, participants, having completed the
Personhood Series, learn more about the techniques and skills of the Hakomi
Method. Here you will explore many ways people express themselves verbally
and nonverbally. You begin to help each other understand and transcend limiting
beliefs and habitual behaviours.
In the Practice Level you’ll learn to use the method to discover how
you organize your experience based on these core patterns, and to help each
other find ways to be more authentic and compassionate, more connected with
each other and with life.
The Applied Level is for those participants who have completed the
Practice Level or equivalent Hakomi training and who wish to deepen their
understanding and application of Hakomi for personal and/ or professional
use. You will have many opportunities to practice using the method with
supervision and to focus either on one-to-one or group applications of
the Hakomi Experiential Method.
In all levels of the Hakomi Experiential Method, the work we do is
informed by a mind-body-spirit perspective toward personhood and community
development. This focus provides both a strong foundation and the primary
motivation for the learning.
"Be what you are: intelligence and love in action." (Nisargadatta Maharaj)
PERSONHOOD SERIES:
- The Practice of Loving Presence
- Quieting the Mind
- Nonverbal Communication
- Emotional Nourishment
These are usually each three-day workshops. They can be open to the public
and taken in any sequence. The whole series must be completed (minimum 12
days) at least once in order to move on to the two skills levels of the Hakomi
training as developed by Ron Kurtz and Donna Martin. These are appropriate
both for lay people and for professionally trained therapists, as well as
anyone in a helping role.
*HAKOMI EXPERIENTIAL METHOD PRACTICE LEVEL
(18 days minimum over 1-2 years)
*HAKOMI EXPERIENTIAL METHOD APPLIED LEVEL
(18 days minimum over 2-3 years)
* led by Donna Martin (and assistant trainers)
The Practice Level or equivalent Hakomi training must be completed
for someone to continue with the Applied Level. These sessions, depending
on the background and experience of the participants, may be taken in any
order if the trainer agrees.
AND… An optional program will be offered for certain qualified people
from the two HEM levels. This is the LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (minimum 6-12
days). Here we’ll cover workshop design and group development strategies,
as well as some group skills, including presentation, debriefing, and individual
and group processing.
Donna Martin, M.A. from Canada is an internationally known Hakomi therapist
and trainer, author, yoga teacher, workshop leader, stress management specialist,
addictions counsellor, and bodymind therapist. She is the author of several
books including Seeing Your Life Through New Eyes (with Paul Brenner).
She has co-led workshops and trainings with Ron Kurtz since 1992 and is currently
working with him on a book on the Practice of Loving Presence. Donna and
Ron have developed this Personhood Series as the first stage of their new
Hakomi Experiential Method training format, for various professional settings,
and for the general public.
Check Donna’s website at www.donnamartin.net,
or email her
More About the Personhood Series
The Practice of Loving Presence
In this workshop, participants learn how to create and sustain a compassionate
state of mind, and to provide a space for someone to have an experience
of being witnessed this way. We do this through a progression through several
specific stages based on a series of experiential practices from the Hakomi
Method. Once the experience of compassion is stabilized, we practice interacting
as compassionate givers and receivers, in pairs and small groups. Through
this process, participants develop more self-awareness, understanding and
the capacity for deep listening. For therapists, this practice is a healthy
alternative to stress and burnout, creating a context for gentle but powerful
healing to happen.
Quieting the Mind
In this workshop, participants learn how to create and 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. We’ll explore habitual tendencies and
unconscious ideas that can (and usually do) disrupt such a state. And we’ll
use the Hakomi Method to experience some alternatives to these old patterns.
This kind of calm sensitivity is the necessary state of mind for loving presence
and for using the Hakomi Method effectively in your personal life or in your
professional work with clients.
Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication expresses who we are, the present experience
we’re having, our personal story, and history, as well as what we expect
and what we really need from each other. In his bestseller, Emotional
Intelligence, Daniel Goleman reports that 90% of our emotional experience
is communicated nonverbally. The learning here is experiential, using a quiet,
calm state of mind, and doing little Hakomi experiments to bring to consciousness
the underlying meanings hidden in nonverbal expression (our own and others):
facial expressions, bodily gestures, posture, tone of voice, energy, pacing,
and other signals. This workshop is for people in helping professions or
service work, especially teachers, doctors, nurses, and social workers. It
is also excellent for parents, and for anyone in a significant relationship.
Emotional Nourishment
Even having good intentions to witness each other compassionately and
to be truly present and helpful to someone in distress, we may still experience
feelings of helplessness in the face of suffering. There are effective ways
to respond to others who need comfort or reassurance, and to help them realize
that some kind of nourishing experience is available. In this workshop, we
explore the ways we ourselves may be unable to take in the emotional nourishment
that is being offered. And we use skills from the Hakomi Experiential Method
to learn how to recognize and communicate clearly and simply what it is that
someone needs to hear and feel, and do this in ways that are appropriate
and are received as nourishment.
Reflective Presence: a Buddhist Hakomi Training