Workshop FAQs
Anyone is welcome to attend our workshops, but we gear them towards psychotherapists and other practitioners offering one-to-one healing work.
Any “Introduction to Hakomi” workshop will give you a sense of the method’s core principles, concepts, and spirit. Each faculty member will present the material somewhat differently. We suggest reviewing the flyer to learn more about the workshop. You may also read the faculty members’ bios here.
We highly recommend attending a workshop with a faculty member on the team that is closest to you geographically, especially if you are attending the workshop as a prerequisite to applying for training. Training with the team closest to your home lets you connect with other Hakomi students and practitioners in your community and region.
Some workshops offer CEs. If so, you will see the type and number of CEs listed on the Events Calendar.
Please view our CE Policy here.
No. We don’t record our workshops for privacy and to encourage students to participate fully in experiential learning, a vital component of the workshop’s curriculum. Learning Hakomi requires direct, embodied experience. During the workshop, these experiences primarily occur in breakout rooms with a partner or small group and would be missed when viewing the recording. Please sign up for a workshop at a time when you anticipate being fully present.
No. Please only enroll in a workshop at a time when you can log on from a quiet, private place with a stable internet connection.
Some workshops offer a limited number of partial scholarships. If the workshop offers scholarships, it will say so in the Events Calendar. We prioritize students who identify as a member of a marginalized group. Please register for the workshop and request a scholarship when submitting your registration so you can reserve your space while we process your scholarship request. Each team has its own approach to scholarship requests.
For more information, email the contact for the specific training you are applying to. You can also learn more about how we embody our commitment to addressing systemic oppression by clicking here.
Training FAQs
We offer:
- In-Person: at a physical location
- Synchronous-Online: on Zoom
- Hybrid: In-Person combined with synchronous (live) and asynchronous (self-paced) Home-Study via an online learning platform.
Hakomi is a subtle and sophisticated therapy that is an excellent base for any therapeutic modality. Therapists and practitioners of all levels of experience find a new range of skills and strategies which increase rapport, depth, and effectiveness in their work with clients. Many experience the Hakomi Training as the next step in their professional and personal development.
Participants in psychotherapy, counseling, and social work and those in allied fields, such as depth-oriented group leadership, depth-oriented coaching, or seasoned bodyworkers, clergy, health practitioners, educators, and those transitioning into the mental health field, benefit from our trainings. We support students in finding their unique application of the work.
Be aware that local practice laws may require additional training or credentials to provide psychotherapy in your area.
Completing at least 12 hours of an Introduction workshop(s) is the prerequisite for applying to a Hakomi Training. Some of our workshops are 12 hours, and others are shorter. Students can acquire the required 12 hours by attending multiple shorter workshops with Hakomi Institute faculty. If a specific training has any additional prerequisites, we will state this in the description for that training on our Events Calendar.
Hakomi has been recommended by MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) as one of the most compatible kinds of therapy for psychedelic guide work. Some of our faculty have supported psychedelic research for many years. We are launching a new Hakomi Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy (HPAP) training later this year for licensed practitioners. Applicants must agree to work within the legal limits around psychedelic-assisted therapy wherever they practice.
In our Comprehensive and Professional Skills Trainings we do not teach guide work; we teach Hakomi. If you are a licensed therapist who is already doing or who intends to do legal psychedelic work that includes supervision, we welcome you to apply for these trainings. We also recommend you get specific training in psychedelic-assisted therapy, such as our HPAP training.
Please do not apply to these trainings if you intend to do underground, illegal work. Although you may have the best intentions, the secret nature of underground work creates a context where boundary violations are more likely to occur. We strive to protect clients from harm and can only accept applicants who agree to adhere to both Hakomi Institute’s Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics and our Hakomi and Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy Position Statement.
Some teams teach the entire Hakomi Method in a single training, while others teach the advanced skills separately. Some include intensive individual supervision in the core training, while others offer separate supervision modules.
Some trainings offer CEs. We state this in each listing on the Events Calendar.
Comprehensive Training (approximately 325 hours)
Students may enroll in the entire training or begin with Level 1 and then enroll in Level 2. These trainings are for psychotherapists (e.g., counselors, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists), graduate students in mental health, and professionals working in allied modalities (e.g., healing arts practitioners, acupuncturists, coaches, educators, group leaders, and others in the helping professions and other healing fields) or transitioning into the field of psychotherapy. Comprehensive training is also the primary training for those seeking certification in the Hakomi Method.
Professionals Skills Training (approximately 145-200 hours)
This abbreviated format is open to psychotherapists and may accept graduate students in psychology fields. These trainings are for those seeking to learn specific skills rather than the entire Hakomi Method.
Specialty Programs
Developed by the Hakomi Faculty, specialty programs combine the principles and sometimes the techniques of the Hakomi Method with other clinical and personal growth areas, such as attachment, couples therapy, ethics, group leadership, sexuality, and trauma. Please see our Specialty Programs page for more information.
After you graduate from a 2-4 year Hakomi Training, you may call yourself a Hakomi Graduate, except for graduates of Hakomi of Europe and Hakomi Mallorca, who may use the designation Hakomi Therapist.
Please know that this title differs from Certified Hakomi Therapist/Practitioner, which requires completing the certification process.
If you train in Europe but practice elsewhere, be aware that the term “therapist” or “psychotherapist” is regulated in many states (for example, California).
The designations Hakomi Therapist and Hakomi Practitioner are only for those who have completed our certification process.
No, but it is imperative to research and abide by the laws wherever you practice. Many parts of the world require licensing or other credentials to practice psychotherapy. Becoming a Hakomi Graduate or certified in Hakomi does not provide the training and/or licensing needed to practice psychotherapy.
You can integrate many aspects of Hakomi into a holistic or professional healing practice. However, we suggest that non-psychotherapists:
- Have a referral network of local psychotherapists, including those with specialized training in treating trauma
- Take additional psychology courses at the graduate level, and
- Seek supervision for support with questions that arise about whether or not to work with a client and how to handle any challenging situations that arise
Certification FAQs
Hakomi certification is a separate process from the training and is proficiency-based. Most people do not feel ready to begin working towards certification until after graduating from the training. Please click here for complete details regarding certification.
Additional FAQs
Hakomi is excellent at working with developmental trauma and can also help process shock trauma if the client can be mindful of their experience. Hakomi works in-depth with memory reconsolidation, in which people often relive the core formative experiences that created the unconscious beliefs that guide their lives while integrating a disconfirming experience that neutralizes the trauma.
However, we do not want to take people into reliving traumatic memories to the point of overwhelm. In our training, we briefly teach how to recognize traumatic activation. If intense nervous system arousal arises, we diverge from experimenting with deeper unconscious material using classic Hakomi skills. Instead, we work with resourcing and settling the client’s system.
If you plan to work with a population that experiences severe P.T.S.D. or relationship trauma, we recommend additional trauma training like ISITTA Trauma Training, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy’s trauma module, or Somatic Experiencing training.