Faculty

Gregory Gaiser,
Hakomi Trainer &
Pastoral Counselor

Gregory is a Hakomi veteran of over 30 years. Originally trained in massage therapy, Gregory has always been inspired by conscious, embodied living. He has also maintained an avid interest in the many developments in the field of body psychology, including recent advances in neuroscience. His training in Buddhist meditation is an important influence both as a clinician and as a pastoral counselor. Gregory has taught traditional Hakomi and Resolving Trauma Through the Body classes in the U.S., Europe, Canada and New Zealand since the early 1990s. More recently he brought this approach to Japan.  He also co-designed and taught a graduate level course at Boulder College of Massage Therapy specializing in massage therapy for trauma survivors. He has taught the body psychology classes at Lauterstein-Conway School of Massage in Austin, TX. His true passion is assisting people to live embodied, purposeful and spiritually connected lives. This passion extends into his group work which fosters a sense of vibrant community in all kinds of groups, from families to classrooms to businesses. He currently resides in Austin, Texas.

email: [email protected]; phone: 650-919-3103

Lorena MondaLorena Monda, MS, DOM, LPCC, is a practicing psychotherapist (since 1979), a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, and a certified qigong teacher. Lorena is the author of The Practice of Wholeness: Spiritual Transformation in Everyday Life and a coeditor of I Have Arrived, I Am Home: Celebrating 20 Years of Plum Village Life and Hakomi Mindfulness Centered Somatic Psychotherapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice (Norton, May 2015). She is currently working on a book called Mindfulness, Qi, and Transformation. Lorena is in private practice in New Mexico and teaches in the US and internationally.

rebeccaRebecca Lincoln, M.A., L.P.C. Hakomi Teacher is excited about bringing Hakomi to North Texas. She is a psychotherapist with the Samaritan Counseling Center of Tyler. She offers spiritually integrated counseling working with veterans, survivors of trauma, and individuals and families living with mental illness.  In addition she is a veteran bodyworker of 25 years. She began her study of Hakomi in 1994 with the Hakomi for Bodyworkers Training. She has trained in the Matrixworks approach to groups as living systems and is a facilitator of the Right Use of Power Ethics training. In her teaching she brings a love for learning through the collaborative wisdom of the group. In addition, she has an appreciation of both the counseling and the bodywork fields. She enjoys helping individuals integrate Hakomi into their everyday life and professions. She is membership chair for The Piney Woods Counseling Association and is passionate about bringing excellence to counseling.

Rupesh Chhagan, M.S.O.M., C.H.P., L.Ac,  Hakomi Teacher is a licensed Acupuncturist with a private practice in Austin, Texas.  He combines the wisdom of Hakomi and Chinese medicine to facilitate self-study that incorporates the energetic realm as well as the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Together with Hakomi Trainer Lorena Monda, he teaches Hakomi Skills for Oriental Medicine workshops and is developing a training in the combined modalities. Rupesh is on the faculty of AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine where he teaches Hakomi skills in an Oriental Medicine context, as well as the dynamics of the healing relationship. He is a long time student of Buddhist psychology, philosophy, and practice, with extensive explorations into Vipassana and Japanese Soto Zen. He has been an avid rock climber for 20 years, where his passion is climbing uncharted terrain in the limestone creek beds of Texas.

photoHiromi Willingham, L.C.S.W., is a psychotherapist in private practice. She is also a certified infant massage instructor and Okada purifying therapy (subtle energy work) instructor. Her passion is to bring truth, virtue, and beauty into the world and to support people’s healing journey in a holistic manner. Fluent in both Japanese and English, Hiromi has been assisting and working as an interpreter for Hakomi trainings and workshops in the U.S. and Japan. She is a mother of three wonderful children and currently lives Abu Dhabi, UAE. She is excited to bring Hakomi therapy there. Her translation of the book, The Practice of Wholeness by Hakomi trainer Lorena Monda was published in Japan in 2014.