Dancing with the Unconscious:An Approach Freud Never Dreamed Of(Case Study from Psychotherapy Networker magazine, July/August 2011 issue)By Rob Fisher, M.F.T., Certified Hakomi TrainerAs I opened the door to my office for our first appointment, Jane said a curt hellobefore I could greet her, and walked in ahead of me. There was a soldierly rigidness toher gait that immediately left me feeling a bit shut out. She greeted my smile with a slightscowl as she told me, without preamble, what had brought her to therapy: she was tired ofbeing so alone in her life.Even when Im with my husband, Im alone, she said. Shed tried talk therapiesand appreciated the insight shed gained, but added, I just keep doing the same thingsIve always done to push people away from me.At 57 and a successful physician in a small town, she found herself returning toher house in the evenings to watch TV alone, while her husband tinkered in the garage.She routinely rebuffed kindly overtures of support from others without really knowingwhywhich enabled her to say, truthfully, that she got very little help from anyone.For instance, before dinner was complete, shed jump up from the table and wash thedishes, feeling resentful as she preempted her husbands help. She was almost entirelyunconscious of the implicit, but ironclad, rules that dominated her somatic and emotionallife.She spoke with an air of independence, giving me the distinct impression that shesuspected that Id be only marginally useful to her, if at all. Her straight posture, stiffcarriage, and severe mouth communicatedmore than her words couldthat she wasstruggling to rely only on herself.As typically happens with clients in a first session, taking in Janes verbal pace,body language, and facial expressions, I found myself formulating some initial questionsabout the formative experiences and inner templates that had shaped her approach to lifeand her habit of removing herself from contact. What must her world be like that shewalks with such purpose and doesnt respond to my smile? What happened to her thatmade it a good idea for her to act so tough? I wondered.Accessing Implicit KnowledgeThe approach that guides my work, Hakomi Mindfulness-Based ExperientialPsychology, is a method originally developed by Ron Kurtz that draws on sources asdiverse as Psychoanalysis, Bioenergetics, Gestalt Therapy, Cognitive-BehavioralTherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Focusing, body work (including theFeldenkrais Method), Buddhism, and Taoism.Hakomi gently and safely encourages clients to use the power of their presentemotional and somatic experience to explore the unconscious models of reality thatdictate how they live and engage in relationships. It relies on body-based mindfulness asa primary tool to explore the implicit beliefs that organize life experiences and to addressthe attachment injuries that shape our emotional realities. People are adept at using wordsto dissemble, but the body is far more direct in communicating our inner states to thosewho are willing to listen. Through the way we move and hold ourselves, we reveal theinternalized working models of our worlds and rules of self-conduct that are encoded inour brains, governing our behavior, perceptions, and feelings.One such implicit rule Jane had learned early in life was never to rely on others.In her worldview, nobody could