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Schedule a single session or package of sessions here.

Hakomi-Informed Somatic Coaching is an approach of working with the intelligence of the body in the present moment as an avenue to invite conscious awareness to limiting unconscious beliefs and perceptions in order to open up new possibilities.

This body-based, trauma-informed approach helps you to shift the idea that your personal struggles are problems to be solved, and invites you to welcome all aspects of yourself and your life with presence and curiosity.

The somatic approach differs from talk therapy, because instead of attempting to solve what is challenging with the rational mind, you are instead guided into state of present moment awareness in order to visit the inner terrain that is underneath the surface of the mind.

Mindfully listening to the cues that your body is providing on a moment-by-moment basis is a compass toward beginning to see the deeply rooted unconscious, automatic impulses that drive thoughts, emotions, and behavior that are more challenging to access in ordinary states of awareness.

Rather than trying fix or simply “let go” of your internal barriers, we instead lean into and support these inner experiences with curiosity, acceptance, and nonviolence, knowing that they are protective responses that deserve to be honored and understood.

Your body has a lot to say about what happened to you growing up, the impact from culture and society, how those experiences shaped you, and what your present needs are. You may already have some of this information from past talk therapy or memories that your rational mind understands as being the cause of your current struggles.

However, the body is where we carry implicit memory which is the deeply held patterning of your nervous system that the conscious, rational, thinking mind often does not have direct access to. 

This is why Hakomi sessions occur in a state of present moment awareness, or mindfulness, so that core psychological material is more accessible through the felt sense of the body.

Introducing…

Inherently Whole

Embody the inherent wholeness that is already within you. 

In Hakomi, we are looking to understand what your missing developmental experiences were, the core beliefs that formed as a result of these missing needs, and the adaptive strategies that you developed to function in this world while carrying the core wound(s). 

Together, we will get to know the your barriers to nourishment you experience now as a result of these adaptive strategies that once kept you safe, and you will be supported to try on new possibilities with little somatic experiments executed in a state of mindfulness to help you get a taste of what the missing nourishment feels like so that you can have a felt sense of a new possible way of being to evoke neuroplasticity. 

Our deep core beliefs about self, and perceptions of the world are rooted as a felt sense in the body. We can align with the inherent wholeness that is already within us when we befriend the protective mechanisms inside of us that keep us blocked from nourishment.

In Hakomi, the emphasis is on slowing down and allowing plenty of space to be with what’s arising inwardly in the moment. Hakomi could be compared to a supported meditation practice in dialogue with a mentor who is here to help welcome and shed light on what’s arising in your awareness.

In this present day and age, we are used to moving at such a fast pace, and a Hakomi session gives you an opportunity to slow down and give space for the more subtle internal experiences that can shed profound insight into your unique psychological organization within the context of a safe and welcoming therapeutic container that welcomes all of you.

All sessions will take place on Zoom, and in the comfort of your own home.  Each session lasts one hour.

It’s suggested that you schedule your sessions approximately one week apart so that you have enough time in between sessions to integrate your experience.

Scroll down for a detailed description of what to expect to experience in a session.

Schedule a free 45 minute call here.

Schedule a single session or package of sessions here.

What happens in a Hakomi session? What can I expect to experience?

At the beginning of a session, we will almost always begin in mindfulness. You will be supported to go inward into the felt experience of your body, underneath the surface layer of the mind.

From there, based on what feels most alive and important to you, you will be gently supported to bring the practitioner along. This could happen by sharing some content about something you are experiencing in your life that’s impacting you, or what you are presently experiencing internally such as a physical or emotional sensation.

Once we have contacted something that’s alive and important for you to tend, you will be supported make space to gently lean into that experience in mindfulness. From here, together we will begin deepening into that experience, always with your consent.

Once we have some information into this experience that has been evoked through your body’s internal cues, you may be prompted to participate in a somatic experiment so that we can get to know more about how your system is oriented.

For example, you may be supported to repeat a movement or some words that the practitioner sees as potentially holding some significant clues into your subconscious terrain, with the intention of bringing unconscious material to your conscious awareness.

While you repeat the movement (for example, tightening a fist) or the words (usually word with emotional tone to them), you will be encouraged to slow down, repeat, and study the experience in mindfulness to learn more about that automatic impulse.

The practitioner may take over the words or movements for you so that you can hear or see them outside of yourself. Props may be used to support certain impulses, for example using a pillow to support your inclination to hide, or wrapping a blanket around you tightly to support the impulse to contract.

Another experiment may be doing the opposite of the impulse, for example, opening your arms while you speak instead of crossing them. Together, we notice what happens next and deepen further into your experience from there.

When these natural impulses are studied in a state of mindfulness, always with your permission, and with a sense of safety and trust in the therapeutic relationship, you can begin to feel what unconscious material is underneath these impulses.

This is where the potential for processing occurs, within which lies the potential for a transformative experience.

Transformation is nothing that can be hurried or forced, which is why nonviolence is one of the key principles in Hakomi. The practitioner’s job is to balance the your desire for change with the organic timing of your unfolding process.

While having a big, transformative experience may be a level of profundity that you desire, and certainly can happen in this kind of container, often mini-transformations are likely to occur where smaller bite-sized nourishments are taken in one bit at a time.

Transformation occurs when you not only gain insight into what your unconscious core material is, but you also get a sense of what the missing nourishment is, and you have a felt experience of that nourishment.

Once you have a felt experience of the missing nourishment, you will be supported to linger in that experience to give your system some time to adjust to the feeling of a new potential way of being. This will evoke neuroplasticity, and support you to integrate this experience into your daily life.

Transformation occurs when our center of gravity shifts from unconsciously protecting the wound to consciously trusting a new possibility.

Integration is key for long term change, and therefore, you will be supported to take a few minutes together at the end of each session to debrief what just happened, and collaborate on how you can take what you just experienced or learned to infiltrate into your life.

To note, the above stated sequence of a session is a general guideline for the Hakomi method. Not every session will be transformative, and no two sessions will be the same. With the principle of organicity in mind, the therapist or coach will not hold any agenda, other than to keep you safe inside of the window of tolerance, and to allow for the organic unfolding of your process.

Hi, I'm Catherine.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

I support people who desire to gain self-insight who struggle with anxiety, trauma, chronic pain and illness, grief, nervous system overwhelm, and sensitivity to rediscover their inherent wholeness.

When it comes to holding a container for others, my strength lies in attunement. I hold deep care, reverence, and humility for each person who puts their trust into my hands to witness and support them in places of vulnerability.

I take this responsibility seriously, and I want each person to feel safe as we work together to gently open and process unconscious internal terrain; a process that is often inherently uncomfortable.

My number one intention is to be collaborative with you. Your consent comes first before any experiential somatic work we do that may potentially uncover painful material for the sake of supporting whatever kind of transformation you are ready for.

My own process of healing from chronic pain and trauma stems from a deep longing to feel more at ease in my body. Dance and therapeutic movement have been healing avenues for me since I was a child.

Struggling with a 15-year cycle of chronic pain and fatigue, anxiety, and a 6-year long eating disorder, I have been on a personal healing journey of post traumatic growth, and I am deeply and passionately committed to supporting others on their path.

My intention is to help you discover the inherent wholeness that is already within you, and to have an embodied understanding that your emotional and physical symptoms are not problems to be fixed, instead they are wise somatic responses to be understood and honored. This is essential for opening to newer possibilities of being and transformation.

Somatic coaching, bodywork, and therapeutic movement practices have been my medicine that I choose to share with others who seek a body/mind approach to healing.

My intention is to hold what we discover together with loving presence, curiosity, and willingness to support you with whatever arises, whether that is supporting you to deepen further or to help you lean toward resourcing if the material we uncover is overwhelming.

My job is to keep you safe inside of the window of tolerance so that you can effectively process your core material in a way that is supportive for integration.

I am not a licensed clinical therapist, and therefore I will refer you out if you have any of the following diagnoses or challenges so that you can be safely supported:

An active addiction

An active eating disorder that's not being addressed

Personality disorder

Severe unresolved trauma

Severe clinical depression

Schizoaffective disorder

Bipolar disorder

This is NOT a comprehensive list of contra-indications to working together.

Prior to working together, I will ask you questions to see if we are a good fit.

I encourage you to ask me questions as well, and to get a sense of whether or not I will be a good fit for you. If you sign up for this program without scheduling a 30 minute call, and we don't know each other, I will reach out to you to schedule one.

This is not for you if …

you want someone to fix you or tell you what to do.

you want someone to do the inner work FOR you.

I am not here to give specific advice for challenging situations happening in your life.

I am here to support your own internal awareness of what your needs are, and to communicate your needs nonviolently and effectively.