Insight-oriented psychotherapy, as I practice it, places a large emphasis on your self-discovery. It involves getting to know the landscape of your psyche on a deeper level than what you know about yourself consciously. Through a dedication to open, honest spontaneous conversations, optional expressive art and writing, dream recall, meditations, inner body focusing and hypnotic inductions, you will be supported to bypass your critical conscious mind to gain access to your subconscious mind programs to see how they are causing anxiety and depression. Once you understand your negative patterns, you can choose to change them.
Some of the techniques that may be used in insight-oriented therapy include the following:
Exploration of the past: I will encourage you to talk about your childhood and any significant or traumatic experiences that may have occurred. I can also lead you to somatically feel your childhood in your body through a Focusing process. This can help to identify patterns or themes that may be affecting your emotions, thoughts and behaviours now.
Interpretation of symptoms: Symptoms can provide clues about the underlying emotional causes. We will work together to interpret these symptoms and understand how they might be related to unresolved conflicts and traumas from the past.
Free association: I encourage you to say whatever comes to mind in your sessions, without censorship, even if it seems disjointed or does not make immediate logical sense. I invite you to speak emotionally and spontaneously as this will reveal what is coming up next from your subconscious growth edge.
Expressive Art: I have a range of courses that can support you to spontaneously access subconscious images and metaphors through spontaneous art and writing. I offer a year-long course on how to heal depression by understanding your personal symbolism and metaphors. You can view the course here: The Art of Healing Depression
Dream interpretation: Dreams can provide insight into the unconscious conflicts that may be affecting your emotional struggles in the present. You are welcome to remember and share your dreams in your therapy sessions, and we can see how they might relate to your current life dilemmas
Use of metaphors: Metaphors convey complex ideas in a way that makes it easier for your conscious mind to understand what is happening on subconscious and unconscious levels. I can guide you to access your inner metaphors through somatic and expressive art practices, as well as meditative and hypnotic guidance so that you can learn the language of the deeper, more hidden parts of your mind.
Discovery of unconscious beliefs: Unconscious and subconscious beliefs are formed at a young age as a way to understand the world, but these beliefs are often outdated and no longer apply to your current life circumstances. These old belief programs need to be understood and reprogrammed so that you can choose to live your optimal life.
Psychoeducation: Insight-oriented therapy helps you to gain insight into your negative emotions by understanding how the various parts of your mind work including your subconscious and unconscious minds. Once you understand the deeper landscape of your psyche, you no longer need to be run by your subconscious habit systems, and you can choose to take a more active role in your healing.
