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​My passion as a therapist  is Somatic Psychotherapy or Body Psychotherapy. The particular approach that I study and incorporate in my practice is called The Hakomi Method.
Let’s have a look at what Somatic Psychotherapy is all about first. I hope this explanation will make it accessible to the visitors of my website who may not have trained as therapists and are curious about this alternative to the traditional ‘Talking Therapy’ approach. You can also click on Hakomi Session to view a  recording of a student training session. This will give you an  insight in to the method.

Are you familiar with the experience of ‘butterflies in your tummy’ or ‘knots in your tummy’? Try an experiment … pay attention to the physical feelings in your body throughout one day. How do your feel when you see a loved one, experience a beautiful nature scene, an angry driver beeping you in the traffic, when all of a sudden you are reminded of someone who has hurt you in the past etc ? You will notice there is a physical reaction every time similar to the aforementioned ‘butterflies’ and ‘knots’. This is your Somatic (Bodily) experience of daily events.

When we were young, growing and developing, we had many experiences, some pleasant and some not so pleasant, maybe even traumatic experiences. These experiences are the foot print of how we perceive the world and the people in it. Present experiences also form how we interpret our future life. 


A very simplistic example is perhaps if we were bitten badly by an angry dog as a child, then as an adult we will become aware we are nervous of all dogs. If, as an adult we see a dog, there is a very obvious physical reaction. Seeing the dog as an adult has triggered the negative somatic experience of been bitten by a dog as a child. Based on this one childhood traumatic experience your body now believes  “All dogs are angry and will bite me!”.

This is what we call a CORE BELIEF in Hakomi. Some of these core beliefs do not serve us in our present lives, they restrict us. So if one of your core belief is that all dogs are angry and will bite you, you will experience a negative experience every time you meet or even think about a dog. This does not serve you well in your life as not all dogs are angry, not all dogs bite. Dogs generally are loving, playful, loyal etc and can be a positive  and rewarding part on one’s life. In Hakomi we say this is a missing experience.

If you were to ponder upon your life so far I wonder what your CORE BELIEFS are and how they have manifested in your body language? I wonder how they support you in your life ? I wonder how many missing experiences are you aware of? It is important to be aware that not all our core beliefs are on a conscious level and therefore are not accessible to us in order to explore and challenge them. Many of our Core Beliefs are on an unconscious level. This can mean we live our lives with beliefs that are impeding upon living a good and happy life. This is the work of The Hakomi Method. The therapist observes the client’s body language within the session which is a pathway to the client’s core beliefs and using Hakomi methodologies,  the healing can begin …….

“core material can be examined, processed, and transformed. Transformation begins when awareness is turned mindfully toward felt, present experience; unconscious material unfolds into consciousness; barriers are attended to; and new experiences are integrated that allow for the reorganization of core beliefs. These, in turn, allow for a greater range of mental, physical, and emotional coherence and behavior.”
                                                                                                                                                                     (www.hakomiinstitute.com)