The Four Pillars that Guide my Work as a Therapist
Hello and Welcome
In this post I share about the four pillars that inform my approach to as a somatic psychotherapist and holistic counsellor. This will give you a foundational understanding of how I support healing within the therapeutic space.
The four pillars that guide my work are Compassionate Inquiry®, Somatic Parts Work, Body-Based Practices and Mindfulness.
Each of these pillars has been established through my personal and professional experiences, my formal training and research, as well as my ongoing curiosity to learn, to remember the essence of who we really are and to support authentic transformation.
Here is further information about each pillar —
Compassionate Inquiry®
Compassionate Inquiry® is a somatic and trauma-informed psychotherapeutic approach developed by Dr. Gabor Maté that reveals what lies beneath the appearance we present to the world. I am a certified practitioner of the Compassionate Inquiry® approach. Using the Compassionate Inquiry system, together the individual and therapist unveil the level of consciousness, mental climate, hidden assumptions, implicit memories and body states that form the real message that words both express and conceal. With this approach you can recognise the unconscious dynamics that run your life and learn how to liberate yourself from them. Compassionate Inquiry® supports you to connect to the truth within yourself in the present moment, become free from self-generated suffering, and gain insight, clarity and choice in your behaviour.
As Gabor shares, “The purpose of the Compassionate Inquiry is to drill down to the core stories people tell themselves – to get them to see what story they are telling themselves unconsciously; what those beliefs are, where they came from; and guide them to the possibility of letting go of those stories, or letting go of the hold those stories have on them.”
If you are specifically interested to explore Compassionate Inquiry, then you may like to visit my offering of the Compassionate Somatics program which is a three-month 1:1 program that incorporates the Compassionate Inquiry approach to therapy.
2. Inner Parts Work
Inner Parts Work is a therapeutic approach that integrates the methodology of Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS) and other trauma-informed models to support you in healing underlying past trauma and pain. IFS is based on the idea that our inner world consists of a system made up of various “parts” or aspects of ourselves that hold different memories, experiences, beliefs and behaviours. From this perspective all parts, regardless of how they currently manifest themselves, hold a positive intention for your system and they can be supported in order to contribute their wisdom to the way you navigate the world. Inner Parts Work utilises embodiment and exploration of the internal family with the goal of bringing alignment to the system as a whole.
3. Body-Based Practices
Using Body-based practices, I support you to learn how to listen to your body, take care of it and understand its subtle language so that you can get to the root of your difficulties. During this process you learn to recognise that the nervous system shapes the way that you experience life — that your beliefs, behaviours and body reactions are embedded within this system. Together we incorporate practices and tools that are in alignment with your individual needs, which may include breath awareness, movement and other body-based practices. These tools can help you to integrate insight into your everyday life and can support you to develop a regular self-inquiry practice. Body-based practices can assist you in cultivating awareness and in regulating your nervous system.
4. Mindfulness
By incorporating mindfulness during sessions, I gently invite you to give space for the full spectrum of changing sensations and responses within your body, and to recognise your feelings and emotions. Through this process, I support you to develop presence, self-awareness and self-compassion as foundations for self-healing. Depending on your situation, we may integrate mindfulness techniques, meditation and foundational principles of non-duality into sessions. These elements assist you in self-regulating and developing insight in your daily life. Weaving mindfulness into sessions supports the shift from over-identifying with the mind towards connecting with your essence and the bigger picture of life.
So, there we go friends. As you may have gathered, I take an integrative approach to healing - one that embraces the interconnection between your mind, body and essence. Through this holistic lens, I believe that we can address the root of our difficulties. In this process we can create more harmonious ways of being.
If you have any questions after reading about the four pillars of my therapeutic approach then please feel welcome to get in touch with me here. I look forward to connecting with you.
In gratitude,
Joella
