Nathan offers Depth Enquiry™ in Murwillumbah and online via Zoom, Skype or FaceTime.
What is Depth Enquiry?
Depth Enquiry is a powerful therapeutic approach for integrating implicit memories, freeing up stuck thought patterns, resolving trauma, anxiety, phobias and underlying shame.
Depth Enquiry was developed by Amanda Gruhn after her training in EMDR, when working with clients suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and a wide range of trauma-related symptoms.
Depth Enquiry unblocks resistant traumas and negative beliefs using a gentle and supportive process. It builds on EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) principles and is further informed by Gestalt therapy and the theories and approaches of trauma experts such as Bessel van der Kolk, Pat Ogden, Janina Fischer and Peter Levine.
These perspectives have been combined into a deep and safe method of therapeutic inquiry; one that retains as its underpinning the holistic tenets of Gestalt psychotherapy. How does it work? Depth Enquiry is a process of working with a distressing memory or image and often a broad belief about the self, such as: nobody loves me; there's something wrong with me; or I am in danger. The approach is facilitated by the therapist, while you're listening to binaural sounds through a headset, you're guided to explore your inner experience, through free association as you notice and accept all thoughts, memories, sensations and feelings which are linked to the image and the belief. It is often surprising what relationships and experiences have been linked to the negative self-belief within the brain and nervous system. The therapist supports the client to notice, accept and allow to move through everything which comes up, including resistance. Gradually, clients progress and naturally cycle back to the image and belief as the level of distress reduces. This process is repeated in further sessions and the level of distress associated with the memory and belief diminishes. Over the course of treatment, memories are unhooked from the belief and become just like any other semantic or explicit memories, without big negative emotions attached to them. Further, the aim is that the negative belief eventually be replaced with a positive or neutral one, such as "I am okay". Over time, the memory of the event can be recalled without overwhelming sensation or discomfort. What is the difference between regular therapy and Depth Enquiry? Really Depth Enquiry is just deeper and faster therapeutic way of working with stuckness, trauma and resistence. Depth Enquiry can used as a stand alone method - if you already have a counsellor or therapist, and if you have something really specific (a memory, traumatic experience, or phobia, for example) you want to work on. Or Depth Enquiry can be incorporated into the process of individual therapy.
Whether we are doing regular talk therapy or depth enquiry it will start the same way. Getting to know each other, digging deeper into your experience (current and historical) and understanding what matters to you and why, and what really evokes big emotions for you. Whether that’s anger, frustration, sadness, joy, love, anxiety, stress, fear - those are the places we will work, dig deeper and explore your experience. Over time, in regular therapy, as more trust and safety develops and you gain more awareness of “how” you tick, you can try out different ways of being in therapy, and in your life. Gradually, you'll more more awareness of how you do it, more acceptance around why, and ultimately more choices open up to you in critical moments.
Depth Enquiry is a tool we can use to work, deep and directed, on the places that are stuck and resisting change. Often in therapy clients will say something like “I know I’m safe, but why don’t I feel safe!” That’s an example of a belief we would work on, allowing them a facilitated deep internal dive into that belief, along with a memory which confirms them “not being safe” and I work with them until the big emotion and embodied feeling is uncoupled from the belief and the memory. Can I close my eyes? Yes. Depth Enquiry uses binaural sounds (beeps) to support integration between your brain hemispheres, and you are encourged to close your eyes, if that feels okay for you. However, if you would prefer to keep your eyes open, you're welcome to. I can't think of a specific belief, my negative feelings are too general, what should I do? No problem! Many people have the same worry. It's my job to work with you to find a belief which feels true for you. You may know it's not true (left brain/cognitively) but we are after a more emotional/embodied belief that still lives on inside. Often these embodied negative self beliefs can cause one to overreact, be defensive or become emotionally triggered. Commonly these beliefs and responses are incongruent with what you know about yourself. The work of Depth Enquiry is in the integration of all of the building blocks of awareness (sensations, images, memories, emotions, impulses, feelings, etc. We will be able to get to a negative sefl belief together, even if the whole first session is dedicated to refining the belief, it is very important therapeutic work and time well spent. I don't think I will be able to do it - Can I do it wrong? Not really. As long as you're able to notice and accept all the thoughts, memories, sensations, emotions and feelings which arise, you are doing it right. Do I have to tell you everything? No. If you would like to work on something which is private or impossible for you to talk about we are able to get a little bit of information about the event, and more general imformation about you and how you support yourself before we begin. And when you are in a Depth Enquiry session you are always in control of what you report. You may choose only to report some of the thoughts you have and some of the body sensations and emotions and you may choose to keep the memories to yourself. Is it effective online? Absolutely! Many people prefer to have a depth enquiry session from the comfort of their own home, to sit in a comfortable chair or lay in their own bed, and they have the benefit of being about to immediately sleep, reflect or rest afterwards. If you book an online Depth Enquiry session, you will need: - a smartphone and the BSDRPlayer App which you can buy for about $7; - a headset and you will need to be able to hear the sounds from the app and my voice at the same time. For example, you could use the headset for the beeps, and hear my voice through the computer speakers. How much will it cost?
Nathan delivers Depth Enquiry as a short program. On average, four to 10 sessions, each charged at $210 (60 minutes). How long does it take? Everyone is different. Some clients see great benefit in fewer than four sessions, and some will require more than eight. Generally, the longer you've had the negative belief and the greater the level of distress, the more sessions you will need - although that is not true for everyone. For a younger brain with greater plasticity, and fewer reinforcing negative experiences, resolution and desensitisation can be surprisingly fast and effective. How frequently can we do Depth Enquiry? This is such an individual thing, and it depends on how the experience is for you. For some the experience is very intense, and they prefer to space them out by a few weeks or a month. Others prefer to have numerous sessions of depth enquiry per week in order to process and heal whatever needs to be processed fast. Will I lose my memories? No, you will not lose your memories. Traumatic memory is memory which hasn't been able to be integrated by your nervous system and your brain's memory systems. As a consequence when you recall the traumatic event, or when something reminds you of it - even outside of your awareness - it feels like the event is happening again. With Depth Enquiry we help your brain and nervous system to integrate the experience into long-term memory. Working on traumatic memory with Depth Enquiry will help to uncouple the overwhelming emotions from the memory. However, you will not forget what happened, you will gain greater capacity to remember it and talk about it as something that happened without being flooded by uncomfortable and overwhelming emotion. Traumatic memory, and attachment injury, chronic misattunement, abuse and emotional neglect from parents or caregivers is carried in similar, though more generalised, ways and can be worked on similarly in Depth Enquiry. Likewise, can anxiety and stress. Will forgotten or suppressed memory come back? This is possible. If you have forgotten or suppressed memory from some time in your life, some of those memories may return to you in a Depth Enquiry session. If that happens I will support you to allow the memory to be there and to move through it as part of the overall experience. As your capacity grows to integrate and move through more of your previously overwhelming experience you may find your brain and memory system present more to be processed, and we can work together to develop a customised and evolving treatment plan which suits you. Can I also see you for regular therapy? Of course. Depth Enquiry can form a part of your overall therapeutic process. It needn't replace our relational/holistic talk therapy sessions and is best undertaken in parallel. The grounding and safety of the therapeutic relationship supports the Depth Enquiry process. It is a very effective method for working with strongly held and/or stuck beliefs and you may like to have a session of Gestalt/talk therapy one week and a session of Depth Enquiry the next. This differs for everyone and we can work out (and evolve) an approach with feels right for you.
Please book in a session with me if you would like to consider undertaking a short Depth Enquiry program, or if you would like to learn more about it. Please read on for more information about EMDR and the neuroscience behind this approach...
Isn’t EMDR Enough? It can be. Yet Depth Enquiry feels more holistic, fluid, embodied and relaxed. Depth Enquiry feels deeper because it is less interrupted and it leans more on the therapeutic relationship. Depth Enquiry feels less clinical; it lends itself more to a humanistic therapeutic setting than does EMDR.
And the results are at least as good, often better.
How Does It Differ From EMDR? Depth Enquiry feels more holistic, more fluid, more embodied, more relaxed.
There are several ways in which Depth Enquiry differs from EMDR.
The therapist: - Encourages the client to stay in the developing process for the entire Depth Enquiry session.- Encourages an experience of depth, by directing the client to notice thoughts, feelings, memories and physical sensations.- Supports and encourages a sense of fluidity, movement and process.Uses reflective listening and channels the client further into the depth of the experience.- Encourages the client to put experiences into language.- Refocuses the client towards what they sense are missed experiences, and directs them to deepen into these missed experiences. Some Background on EMDR EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a well established technique for the relief of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). EMDR involves the therapist guiding the client through a number of reflective stages, while invoking eye movements in the client (usually by the client following a wand or pencil held by the therapist, and swung gently in a rhythmic way). These eye movements invoke bilateral stimulation of brain centres that hold dysfunctionally stored memories.
EMDR unlocks these fixed, dysfunctional and traumatic memories, and enables them to be released into long-term memory, where they have less impact on the client’s well-being. The client’s reactions to potentially traumatising stimuli in the environment become markedly less severe.
Two Useful Terms: The ANP and the EP Current thinking is that a traumatic event splits the healthy personality into (at least) two parts.
The Apparently Normal Part (ANP) continues to adapt to the demands of daily living and is motivated to appear normal, in order to remain connected to others and to the world. The Emotional Part (EP) holds the trauma and continues to relive it. When the experiences of the EP enter into the awareness of the ANP the person experiences symptoms of trauma. The ANP does not want the EP’s experience. To maintain stability, the ANP resists and avoids the EP’s experience. The EP appears to push for expression. The person suffers flashbacks from the EP, and negative thoughts (“I must be crazy”, “I’m unworthy”) from the ANP. The process continues whenever there are reminders of the original trauma.
(The full model specifies at least two parts: the above model is a simplification, but is still useful in describing the re-traumatising processes.) If you would like to learn more about this, please book in a session, or give Nathan a call.
These perspectives have been combined into a deep and safe method of therapeutic inquiry; one that retains as its underpinning the holistic tenets of Gestalt psychotherapy. How does it work? Depth Enquiry is a process of working with a distressing memory or image and often a broad belief about the self, such as: nobody loves me; there's something wrong with me; or I am in danger. The approach is facilitated by the therapist, while you're listening to binaural sounds through a headset, you're guided to explore your inner experience, through free association as you notice and accept all thoughts, memories, sensations and feelings which are linked to the image and the belief. It is often surprising what relationships and experiences have been linked to the negative self-belief within the brain and nervous system. The therapist supports the client to notice, accept and allow to move through everything which comes up, including resistance. Gradually, clients progress and naturally cycle back to the image and belief as the level of distress reduces. This process is repeated in further sessions and the level of distress associated with the memory and belief diminishes. Over the course of treatment, memories are unhooked from the belief and become just like any other semantic or explicit memories, without big negative emotions attached to them. Further, the aim is that the negative belief eventually be replaced with a positive or neutral one, such as "I am okay". Over time, the memory of the event can be recalled without overwhelming sensation or discomfort. What is the difference between regular therapy and Depth Enquiry? Really Depth Enquiry is just deeper and faster therapeutic way of working with stuckness, trauma and resistence. Depth Enquiry can used as a stand alone method - if you already have a counsellor or therapist, and if you have something really specific (a memory, traumatic experience, or phobia, for example) you want to work on. Or Depth Enquiry can be incorporated into the process of individual therapy.
Whether we are doing regular talk therapy or depth enquiry it will start the same way. Getting to know each other, digging deeper into your experience (current and historical) and understanding what matters to you and why, and what really evokes big emotions for you. Whether that’s anger, frustration, sadness, joy, love, anxiety, stress, fear - those are the places we will work, dig deeper and explore your experience. Over time, in regular therapy, as more trust and safety develops and you gain more awareness of “how” you tick, you can try out different ways of being in therapy, and in your life. Gradually, you'll more more awareness of how you do it, more acceptance around why, and ultimately more choices open up to you in critical moments.
Depth Enquiry is a tool we can use to work, deep and directed, on the places that are stuck and resisting change. Often in therapy clients will say something like “I know I’m safe, but why don’t I feel safe!” That’s an example of a belief we would work on, allowing them a facilitated deep internal dive into that belief, along with a memory which confirms them “not being safe” and I work with them until the big emotion and embodied feeling is uncoupled from the belief and the memory. Can I close my eyes? Yes. Depth Enquiry uses binaural sounds (beeps) to support integration between your brain hemispheres, and you are encourged to close your eyes, if that feels okay for you. However, if you would prefer to keep your eyes open, you're welcome to. I can't think of a specific belief, my negative feelings are too general, what should I do? No problem! Many people have the same worry. It's my job to work with you to find a belief which feels true for you. You may know it's not true (left brain/cognitively) but we are after a more emotional/embodied belief that still lives on inside. Often these embodied negative self beliefs can cause one to overreact, be defensive or become emotionally triggered. Commonly these beliefs and responses are incongruent with what you know about yourself. The work of Depth Enquiry is in the integration of all of the building blocks of awareness (sensations, images, memories, emotions, impulses, feelings, etc. We will be able to get to a negative sefl belief together, even if the whole first session is dedicated to refining the belief, it is very important therapeutic work and time well spent. I don't think I will be able to do it - Can I do it wrong? Not really. As long as you're able to notice and accept all the thoughts, memories, sensations, emotions and feelings which arise, you are doing it right. Do I have to tell you everything? No. If you would like to work on something which is private or impossible for you to talk about we are able to get a little bit of information about the event, and more general imformation about you and how you support yourself before we begin. And when you are in a Depth Enquiry session you are always in control of what you report. You may choose only to report some of the thoughts you have and some of the body sensations and emotions and you may choose to keep the memories to yourself. Is it effective online? Absolutely! Many people prefer to have a depth enquiry session from the comfort of their own home, to sit in a comfortable chair or lay in their own bed, and they have the benefit of being about to immediately sleep, reflect or rest afterwards. If you book an online Depth Enquiry session, you will need: - a smartphone and the BSDRPlayer App which you can buy for about $7; - a headset and you will need to be able to hear the sounds from the app and my voice at the same time. For example, you could use the headset for the beeps, and hear my voice through the computer speakers. How much will it cost?
Nathan delivers Depth Enquiry as a short program. On average, four to 10 sessions, each charged at $210 (60 minutes). How long does it take? Everyone is different. Some clients see great benefit in fewer than four sessions, and some will require more than eight. Generally, the longer you've had the negative belief and the greater the level of distress, the more sessions you will need - although that is not true for everyone. For a younger brain with greater plasticity, and fewer reinforcing negative experiences, resolution and desensitisation can be surprisingly fast and effective. How frequently can we do Depth Enquiry? This is such an individual thing, and it depends on how the experience is for you. For some the experience is very intense, and they prefer to space them out by a few weeks or a month. Others prefer to have numerous sessions of depth enquiry per week in order to process and heal whatever needs to be processed fast. Will I lose my memories? No, you will not lose your memories. Traumatic memory is memory which hasn't been able to be integrated by your nervous system and your brain's memory systems. As a consequence when you recall the traumatic event, or when something reminds you of it - even outside of your awareness - it feels like the event is happening again. With Depth Enquiry we help your brain and nervous system to integrate the experience into long-term memory. Working on traumatic memory with Depth Enquiry will help to uncouple the overwhelming emotions from the memory. However, you will not forget what happened, you will gain greater capacity to remember it and talk about it as something that happened without being flooded by uncomfortable and overwhelming emotion. Traumatic memory, and attachment injury, chronic misattunement, abuse and emotional neglect from parents or caregivers is carried in similar, though more generalised, ways and can be worked on similarly in Depth Enquiry. Likewise, can anxiety and stress. Will forgotten or suppressed memory come back? This is possible. If you have forgotten or suppressed memory from some time in your life, some of those memories may return to you in a Depth Enquiry session. If that happens I will support you to allow the memory to be there and to move through it as part of the overall experience. As your capacity grows to integrate and move through more of your previously overwhelming experience you may find your brain and memory system present more to be processed, and we can work together to develop a customised and evolving treatment plan which suits you. Can I also see you for regular therapy? Of course. Depth Enquiry can form a part of your overall therapeutic process. It needn't replace our relational/holistic talk therapy sessions and is best undertaken in parallel. The grounding and safety of the therapeutic relationship supports the Depth Enquiry process. It is a very effective method for working with strongly held and/or stuck beliefs and you may like to have a session of Gestalt/talk therapy one week and a session of Depth Enquiry the next. This differs for everyone and we can work out (and evolve) an approach with feels right for you.
Please book in a session with me if you would like to consider undertaking a short Depth Enquiry program, or if you would like to learn more about it. Please read on for more information about EMDR and the neuroscience behind this approach...
Isn’t EMDR Enough? It can be. Yet Depth Enquiry feels more holistic, fluid, embodied and relaxed. Depth Enquiry feels deeper because it is less interrupted and it leans more on the therapeutic relationship. Depth Enquiry feels less clinical; it lends itself more to a humanistic therapeutic setting than does EMDR.
And the results are at least as good, often better.
How Does It Differ From EMDR? Depth Enquiry feels more holistic, more fluid, more embodied, more relaxed.
There are several ways in which Depth Enquiry differs from EMDR.
The therapist: - Encourages the client to stay in the developing process for the entire Depth Enquiry session.- Encourages an experience of depth, by directing the client to notice thoughts, feelings, memories and physical sensations.- Supports and encourages a sense of fluidity, movement and process.Uses reflective listening and channels the client further into the depth of the experience.- Encourages the client to put experiences into language.- Refocuses the client towards what they sense are missed experiences, and directs them to deepen into these missed experiences. Some Background on EMDR EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a well established technique for the relief of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). EMDR involves the therapist guiding the client through a number of reflective stages, while invoking eye movements in the client (usually by the client following a wand or pencil held by the therapist, and swung gently in a rhythmic way). These eye movements invoke bilateral stimulation of brain centres that hold dysfunctionally stored memories.
EMDR unlocks these fixed, dysfunctional and traumatic memories, and enables them to be released into long-term memory, where they have less impact on the client’s well-being. The client’s reactions to potentially traumatising stimuli in the environment become markedly less severe.
Two Useful Terms: The ANP and the EP Current thinking is that a traumatic event splits the healthy personality into (at least) two parts.
The Apparently Normal Part (ANP) continues to adapt to the demands of daily living and is motivated to appear normal, in order to remain connected to others and to the world. The Emotional Part (EP) holds the trauma and continues to relive it. When the experiences of the EP enter into the awareness of the ANP the person experiences symptoms of trauma. The ANP does not want the EP’s experience. To maintain stability, the ANP resists and avoids the EP’s experience. The EP appears to push for expression. The person suffers flashbacks from the EP, and negative thoughts (“I must be crazy”, “I’m unworthy”) from the ANP. The process continues whenever there are reminders of the original trauma.
(The full model specifies at least two parts: the above model is a simplification, but is still useful in describing the re-traumatising processes.) If you would like to learn more about this, please book in a session, or give Nathan a call.
PRICING
Depth Enquiry: $210/hr.