Compassionate Inquiry
Getting better at feeling
Compassionate Inquiry is a trauma-informed, somatic therapeutic approach developed by Dr. Gabor Maté. It gently explores the patterns, beliefs, emotions, coping strategies, and early experiences that live beneath the surface of what we struggle with — and the body’s own wisdom in holding them.
Sometimes what we experience as a problem on the surface — anxiety, disconnection, self-criticism, overwhelm, a compulsive habit, a stuck relationship — is not the whole story. Beneath it may be a younger part carrying something it once had no way to express, and a belief formed long ago about who we are or what we must do to stay safe.
Compassionate Inquiry does not aim to fix, manage, or push those parts away. Instead we become curious about what is here — what it is trying to protect, what it may be carrying, and what it needs. In meeting it with compassion rather than judgement, a greater sense of freedom, choice, and reconnection with ourselves can open up.
The work is slow, embodied, and collaborative. You are always in the lead. My role is to hold a steady, compassionate space. And to listen beneath the words, notice what the body is telling us, and help you meet yourself with the same kindness. There is nothing to perform here. Only permission to be exactly where you are.
“The essence of trauma is not what happens to us, but what happens inside us as a result of what happens to us.”
What a session holds
60 minutes (Online)
Each session is a 60-minute online exploration. We begin with whatever is alive for you. It could be a feeling, a recurring pattern, a question, or simply a sense that something wants attention.
Together we slow down and listen. I may invite you to notice what is happening in your body, to stay with a sensation or an emotion, or to let an image, memory, or belief surface in its own time. Nothing is forced, and you choose how far to go.
Over time, the work tends to bring greater clarity about the roots of how you respond — and a more honest relationship with the parts of yourself that have been carrying the hardest load.
- A trauma-informed space — safety and pacing come first, moving only as quickly as your nervous system can hold
- Somatic, not just cognitive — we listen to the body’s sensations alongside the story the mind tells
- Curiosity over correction — the aim is to understand and be with what is here, not to fix or remove it, but to be curious
- You lead — you decide what to bring and how deep to go; my role is to hold steady and reflect back what I see
I am a Certified Compassionate Inquiry® Practitioner, trained through the professional program developed by Dr. Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur. The certification is grounded in a trauma-informed, somatic, and relational understanding of how early experiences shape our adult life — and in a practice of meeting whatever arises with compassion rather than judgment.
Compassionate Inquiry is one of the threads I weave into a wider, holistic way of working that also draws from somatic therapy, transactional analysis, Internal Family Systems, and other evidence-based psychological approaches. There is no single way of working; we find what feels most helpful and meaningful for you.
