“Every cell in my body felt like it released and softened.” -Client
The work that I do, influenced by the Hakomi Method of Somatic Psychotherapy and deep mindfulness practice, differs substantially from traditional talk therapy in that the work is situated in the present moment and investigates the presenting body experiences (sensations, emotions, memories, thoughts, etc) using experiments in an atmosphere or loving presence.
I have been studying The Hakomi Method since 2015, began formal training in 2016, have been seeing clients since 2017, graduated the Hakomi Institute’s Comprehensive Training in 2018, and continue to seek guidance, oversight, and feedback from Hakomi Faculty and experts.
The influence of my twenty years of mindfulness meditation training and work of teaching secular mindfulness in schools and retreats since 2008 gives me powerful tools to help calm the nervous system, allowing for intuitive insights into subtle dynamics while satisfying unmet needs. Coupling this with my background in science and engineering gives me grounding in the logical, rational, and sequential ways the body systems’ function. I am able to walk the fine line of using evidence based approaches that aren’t limited by a knee-jerk dismissal due to sounding too alternative.
The work works on many levels
- Feeling your emotions fully, finding where they live in the body, supporting their resolution, once dissolved you are no longer hostage to their gripping and painful ups and downs
- Finding where your trauma lives in your body, being supportive and moving slowly we can deepen all the way back to the original memories to find out what happened, through providing the missing nourishment healing occurs
- Discovering your limiting core beliefs about yourself and how you see and experience the world, through supporting them they no longer dictate your life, opening up new possibilities, and through learning about how they fit into common character patterns of behavior
- Discovering and cultivating your unique strengths that you have developed through your resilience to adversity
"I have had the good fortune of working with Gabriel for the last two years. He has an intuitive gift that he brings to this work that has allowed me to see the patterns of my behaviour in new ways. He has helped me see how love shows up in my life in ways I was not letting in because it had not arrived in the packaged format I had wanted it to. His gentle work in helping me see this has allowed me to change the relationship I have with my father, begin to rework the relationship with my mother while she is still alive, and has helped me see how my wife shows her love, something that I had not seen as deeply as I do now, and things continue to unfold for me each day. I appreciate the skill and kindness with which he has worked with me, and the deep and compassionate way he has seen me through this work." -Client, MD
What it looks like
- I work with adult and youth clients one on one and in groups in an experimental and experiential guided meditative process.
- Using experiments, something nourishing is offered such as a statement “Its ok to rest” or a hand to support slumping shoulders and we study the result often discovering a barrier to connection, support, rest, etc. We can then explore that barrier to find out what is needed and offer it, repeating the process until healing occurs and new possibilities for living life more fully open up.
- From the outside the approach will look quite similar to a talk therapy set up except with some possible moving around and occasional use of consensual physical touch.
- Please note that I am not a licensed psychologist, counselor, or social worker. As a Hakomi Institute Graduate I follow the Code of Ethics, which can be viewed here (Go to https://hakomiinstitute.com/, Click Resources, Click Code of Ethics). If you have questions about this do please discuss it further with me to see if we are a good fit to work together.
What is Hakomi?
“Hakomi is a form of guided self-study that uses mindfulness to access the memory system where our most fundamental, wide-reaching beliefs are implicitly encoded. These beliefs, which lie below the level of conscious choosing, condition our perceptions and responses to all aspects of life. New research suggests that we can reshape our neural hardware and shift these organizers of experience through the function of attention.” -Maci Daye
My practice
I see clients at my home office in Brooks Maine and on zoom. For in person sessions the following covid precautions apply: Click here to read my Office Covid Policy.
I am accepting new clients.
Lets talk. Reach out in the form below, it will send me an email, and I’ll respond. Occasionally, I’ll be on a mindfulness retreat or youth retreat and won’t be checking during that time but otherwise I’m typically quite prompt. Or feel free to give me a ring at:
Contact Form: