Training Team
Paul Flowers
Paul has been a long-term resident of the Ashland area starting in the mid 90s and then returning to raise children from 2003 on. Community development and involvement became a priority for him while he also focused on parenting as a learning process. This led him to become a youth mentor and lead circles in local schools and at remote retreats. He also offered one-on-one mentoring support through local programs, and developed connections to community circles where diversity and inclusion were embraced to create safe spaces for peaceful dialogue.
Paul was fortunate to have been present when founder Ron Kurtz gave his last public talk defining Refined Hakomi, which inspired him to join what would become Ron's final Hakomi training. After completing formal Level I and II training, he practiced these methods with family and friends and in the corporate environment for interpersonal harmony and efficiency.
His journey with mindfulness began with meditation in his early 20s and deepened with Hakomi. In 2023, Paul became an Oregon state certified psilocybin facilitator. The Hakomi experience has been a valuable addition to his life's work.
Jan Verweij
Jan was born and raised in the Netherlands and came to UW in Seattle in 1997 with a fresh PhD in Neuroscience and expertise in Retinal Physiology. He moved to San Francisco and UCSF in 1999, where he continued neuroscience research, became a permanent resident, got married, and then became a US citizen.
From 2005 through 2007, he did the Comprehensive Hakomi Training with the Hakomi Institute of San Francisco and later assisted the training for two years. Around 2009, he signed up for a Hakomi Therapy Intensive with "the source" Ron Kurtz in Ashland. The deep welcome and attunement he felt there — with Ron Kurtz, Terry Toth, Marina McDonald and others — deeply inspired him and compelled him to visit Ashland regularly for Hakomi-related events. It has been wondrous and inspiring for him to be part of the reemergence of Hakomi at Hakomi House.
Scott Christenson
Scott's life journey has had two different themes. During the first half of his life, he was a practicing criminal defense attorney in the Bay Area, California. The second half began as he entered a transition to untangle what his soul was yearning for — which led him to Hakomi in January 2011.
During his early Hakomi sessions and training, he felt safe to begin healing many childhood wounds. This healing continued with volunteer work at Rape Trauma Services in Burlingame, CA, a spiritual practice through Art of Living, and ultimately a master's degree in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Between 2012 and 2024, he became an MFT licensed in California, and later entered the East-West Psychology PhD program.
In 2024, he attended the Hakomi Educational Network Conference in Mexico City and committed to becoming a practitioner. Within four months, Marina McDonald asked him to help rebirth Refined Hakomi training. He said yes immediately — and with that, a new phase of life began in Ashland, in deep gratitude and service to others in the Hakomi tradition.
Kristi Chipowsky
Kristi is a gifted and experienced Massage Therapist skilled in Deep Tissue, Swedish massage, Trigger Point Therapy, Orthopedic massage, and Myofascial Release — and is Hakomi-informed. She has a caring, compassionate, intuitive and deep presence that provides a safe space for her clients to fully relax and receive the therapeutic benefits of her healing touch.
Kristi has experienced significant personal growth and healing through many years of shamanic medicine ceremonies and the trials of being a full-time single parent. She has cleared a lot of trauma through facing her shadows, and as a result has cultivated a newfound self-love and love of life. The depth of intimacy, openness and vulnerability she has accessed through her Refined Hakomi training has been a powerful experience and a natural progression on her journey of healing and self-discovery.
Kristi has lived in beautiful Southern Oregon for 24 years. Her interests include natural healing, dancing, yoga, creativity, recreating in nature, meditation, and above all, self-realization.
Jeanie Bianca
Jeanie grew up in Big Sur, California during the 50s, 60s and 70s, when Esalen Institute was conceived and born. She lived there as a child when it was simply known as Big Sur Hot Springs, and later lived and worked at Esalen through her teens during the beginning of the Human Potential Movement — meeting and getting to know several of the early teachers.
Through many years of raising a family and career changes, she landed in Ashland, Oregon. A friend told her about a talk Ron Kurtz was giving — which turned out to be the last public talk he gave. She went and knew immediately that Hakomi was what she had been looking for. Although Ron passed early in their training, what she learned as the training continued was life-changing. She applied what she learned to every aspect of her life and has continued to do so. With Hakomi House now open, she's excited and looking forward to a future filled with a deeper understanding and practice of the Refined Hakomi Method, always in Loving Presence.
Fuchsia Remick
Fuchsia has lived a long life of service to humanity and is especially close to Native communities in the Southwest and Alaska. She began her study of Hakomi in 2002 and is a therapist, trainer, and teacher. She assisted her husband Dennis in his legacy documentary tapes of Ron's sessions and interviews. She is a happy and joyful being.