Somatic awareness and experiential approaches are combined in Ron Kurtz's body-centered approach known as the Hakomi Method of Experiential Psychotherapy to encourage psychological development and transformation.

According to the Hakomi theory, the body serves as a window to unconscious psychological content. Trained professional psychologists assist clients in treatment by identifying physical signs of unconscious beliefs and then helping them bring these signs into awareness, which helps the process of change.

The Hakomi Method states that a person's fundamental material can be learned via their gestures, posture, facial expressions, and other bodily sensations. The ideas, memories, emotions, and beliefs that make up this core material—even those that are unconscious—determine a person's unique personality and may also serve to set boundaries for their individuality and aspirations. Through this method of treatment or therapy, people can gradually get a deeper comprehension of this fundamental information and, with the kind, gentle guidance of experts trained in Hakomi, explore, challenge, and finally modify any self-defeating ideas.

The five guiding principles of the Hakomi Method are mindfulness, organicity, nonviolence, integration of the mind and body, and unification. Hakomi is distinct from other forms of treatment that incorporate mindfulness into the therapeutic process in the following ways: Nearly the entire therapeutic procedure in Hakomi is carried out in mindfulness. This distinctive feature facilitates rapid and secure identification of, and treatment for, unconscious thoughts and beliefs in clients. One of the core tenets of Hakomi is the value of the body as a resource and its capacity to enable the mind to obtain essential information. Some Hakomi practitioners may also utilize (consensual) touch throughout the therapeutic process.

Hakomi Therapy is practiced in accordance with five guiding principles.

Mindfulness: A relaxed, alert state of consciousness known as mindfulness is characterized by a persistent inward focus and a heightened awareness of what is happening at the moment. One's ability to notice sensations, emotions, and thoughts that emerge in the present can be improved by practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness also helps to quiet the mind. In this level of mindfulness, unconscious material is frequently brought into conscious awareness. ?

Organicity: According to this, people are intelligent living systems with the capacity for self-organization, self-correction, and self-maintenance. This concept holds that everyone has a natural ability to heal and that this ability includes an inner knowing of what is required for healing to take place. Therefore, an Online Counsellor job is to encourage and support a client's innate capacity for healing as they progress toward wholeness.

Nonviolence demands collaboration on both the part of the therapist and the client. The therapist carefully observes the client's intrinsic healing process and lets it run its course without meddling. Defenses are seen as reflexes that help people manage (either by confining, diminishing, or avoiding) their emotional experiences rather than as barriers that need to be overthrown violently. According to Hakomi, when therapists show respect and support instead of confronting defenses, people are more able to get over these barriers.

Mind-Body Integration: The awareness of the mind, body, and spirit as entities that constantly interact and impact one another as well as a person's views about oneself, other people, and the world is known as mind-body integration. All three systems are thought to reflect what the individual is experiencing at the time. Therefore, one's somatic experiences and physiology are also affected by their core ideas about themselves and the world. This is in addition to how they think and behave.

Unity: The Hakomi philosophy of unity holds that each person is made up of interdependent pieces that work together to maintain the system's overall health. The unity concept also presupposes that people are connected to one another and dependent on one another. People can receive assistance in a therapy context in overcoming perceived obstacles or power disparities between the self and others, creating a climate of loving presence and mutuality.

Sessions with Hakomi normally go in the following order: contact, accessing, processing, and integration.

Contact starts during the first phase of therapy and entails creating and maintaining a secure and accepting space where the patient feels at ease engaging in the process of self-discovery. People could be reluctant to lower their guard and expose themselves to the vulnerable state of mindfulness if they don't feel comfortable and trusted.

The process of accessing involves using mindfulness to examine current events and unearth unconscious core material in order to process and integrate it into the preexisting sense of self. Hakomi's theory states that people are more likely to have conscious desires when they become aware of the restrictions that core material places on their life. Then, Hakomi therapists can assist clients in discovering fresh possibilities through experiential means.

This procedure may be started by the therapist urging the client to close their eyes, focus inside, and pay attention to their body as it changes throughout the session. The therapist encourages the patient to concentrate on any ideas, sensations, images, feelings, or memories that come into awareness while carefully observing and supporting the patient's therapeutic process as it develops.

Studying the person's experiences and reactions to the studies, as well as looking into any beliefs and concepts that might have an effect on their well-being, are all part of the processing process. Instead of evaluating these beliefs and concepts, the therapist usually works with the patient to develop fresh experiences that contradict these notions, enabling the patient to learn what individually feels right and genuine. Often, processing results in profound understanding, transformation, and change. The therapist places a strong emphasis on the patient's inner wisdom.

Integration happens toward the end of a session as the therapist assists the patient in making meaning of their experiences. Additionally, the therapist aids the patient in drawing links between what happened in the session and life outside of treatment.

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Contributed By :- Dr (Prof) R K Suri Clinical Psychologist & Ms. Aditi Bharadwaj