“To notice what arises inside, without judgment, is the essence of Hakomi and the pathway to deep and abiding healing.”
~ Ron Kurtz
About Hakomi Austin
We are a collective dedicated to practicing and sharing the Hakomi method in our community. We are committed to creating an open and free space where those who practice Hakomi or have an interest in doing so may come together to learn, share and support one another.
If you would like to know more about joining us or being listed on this website, please let us know!
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Find a Hakomi Practitioner
There are many Austin-area therapists, coaches, bodyworkers, acupuncturists, and more who utilize this powerful method as a part of their healing modalities. Please see our growing practitioner page to find someone who you may be interested in speaking with to learn more.
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Event Spotlight: Flint Sparks Meditation Retreat
Join Flint Sparks for a week-long meditation retreat at the Hui Ho’Olana. Flint is a Zen Buddhist teacher and Spiritual Director who leads retreats internationally with an emphasis on the interface between psychology and spiritual practices in personal transformation. Flint is a long-time practitioner of Hakomi, having studied extensively with Ron Kurtz, and is one of the seven Legacy Holders. See our events page to learn more and express interest in the intensive.
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Training: The Personhood Series
We will be offering training in the Personhood Series in the Fall of 2024. This series consists of four interactive workshops that introduce one to the essential components of the Hakomi Method. Check the Events page for more details and to register!
What is Hakomi?
Hakomi is a method of “assisted self-study” that helps us to understand:
Why we do what we do.
What unconscious patterns motivate our beliefs and actions.
Where there are barriers to nourishment that lead to unnecessary suffering.
How we can transform these patterns into life-giving, nourishing experiences.
It assumes that much of our suffering derives from unconscious, often long-held beliefs that are no longer serving us and are usually outdated or no longer true. It helps to bring these beliefs into conscious awareness, often by following sensations presented by the body, mind, or emotions.
What is a Hakomi Session Like?
The Hakomi practitioner intentionally calls forward a state of what is called “loving presence” - an intention of being loving, attentive, and appreciative of the Hakomi client at all times during the session. The practitioner pays very close attention to not just the content of what is being said, but the way the client is expressing themselves, both verbally and non-verbally. The practitioner then uses these observations to create what are called “little experiments,” conducted in a state of mindfulness so that the effects of the experiments may be known in real-time. Such experiments tend to evoke feelings, memories, or reactions that are followed, often towards core beliefs that were previously unconscious so that the client may learn more about themselves.
Every Hakomi session is built on a foundation of helping clients move towards experiences that are nourishing and enlivening.
The Hakomi Education Network and The Hakomi Institute
Two international organizations offer training in the Hakomi Method: the Hakomi Institute, founded by Ron Kurtz and others in the 1980s, and the Hakomi Education Network, also founded by Ron Kurtz and others in the late 1990s. Both organizations are dedicated to sharing Hakomi throughout the world.
As Ron Kurtz wrote before his death in 2011:
“The original version [of Hakomi] that began with me continues to be the root of all versions. Using mindfulness and experiments is still essential to all versions. The differences now are in the content of the training and the style of teaching…"
For more information, read The Roots of Hakomi.
Ron Kurtz, the founder of the Hakomi Method
Ron Kurtz was a psychologist and the developer of the Hakomi method, as well as the founder of the Hakomi Institute and the Hakomi Education Network. He dedicated most of his career to advancing and innovating on the method, as well as training others in its application. Ron saw the primary application of Hakomi as a way of helping people understand who they really are, beyond their condition and unexamined beliefs, often formed in childhood. Ron called this “mindfulness-based assisted self-study and self-discovery.”
