Shame is pervasive in humans, and it is often an invisible force of human wounding.
By bringing greater awareness and attention to shame within the Hakomi method, we can strengthen our work with clients and support deeper healing.
In this workshop, we will learn about what shame is—it’s evolutionary origins and psychological manifestation. Then we will discuss how to work with shame in a Hakomi context.
We will frame shame as fundamentally a “bubble” issue; that is, we need to be sensitive to shame dynamics in order to have an effective therapeutic alliance with our clients.
We will learn to track for unnamed shame through body gestures and speech patterns.
We will discuss what the therapist needs to do differently when shame arises in clients.
And we will learn what inner work the Hakomi practitioner can do to be more effective in working with their clients’ shame.
We will also discuss “transmitted shame” and the two forms in which it is commonly manfest: shame transmitted through predation, abuse, and bullying, and shame transmitted through cultural stigmatization and marginalization. We will discuss the role of working with disgust affects as a means of dislodging transmitted shame. We will cover specific interventions: how to track and contact disgust, how to contextualize disgust so that clients are open to working with it, and how to relationally support somatic processing of disgust affects in order to release transmitted shame.
Join us on October 19th, 2pm-5pm USA Pacific, for an illuminating workshop, in the creative Hakomi tradition!
Instructor Bio
Shai Lavie, M.A., Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, works with adults, adolescents, and families in private practice in San Anselmo, California. He got his Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 1995, and received his MFT license in 1999.
Shai is certified in the Hakomi Method of mindfulness-based psychotherapy, and is a Certified Hakomi Trainer on the faculty of Hakomi Mallorca and the Hakomi Institute of California. He is also certified in the Somatic Experiencing method of working with trauma, developed by Peter Levine.
Shai has been practicing Vipassana meditation for over 35 years. For many years beginning in 2001, Shai taught meditation in the Teen and Family Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center (see www.spiritrock.org).
Shai has also led psychotherapy trainings for therapists at numerous agencies and training centers in California.
Please look for articles from Shai Lavie in the September/October 2011 issue of Psychotherapy Networker (“In Search of a Lost Self”) and in the September/October 2011 issue of The Therapist (“Mindfulness-Based Family Therapy”). These articles can be found on the Hakomi Institute website. Please also look for Shai’s chapter (“Experiments in Mindfulness”) in the new book: Hakomi Mindfulness-Centered Somatic Psychotherapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice (W.W. Norton, 2015). Shai’s newest article, “Held Experience: Using Mindfulness in Psychotherapy to Facilitate Deeper Psychological Repair” published in the Fall 2015 issue of the International Body Psychotherapy Journal.
Shai lives in Fairfax, California with his wife and daughter. He loves wilderness hiking, paddle boarding, climbing, frisbee, martial arts, and music.
3CE’s: (ACEP #5476): Hakomi Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 5476.) Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Hakomi Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.
