Depth Psychotherapy
What Is Depth Psychotherapy?
Depth psychotherapy is a process of inner exploration of the unexplored or forgotten aspects of ourselves. With this approach, there is a focus on opening to the subtle, unconscious aspects of the human experience and the developmental areas of consciousness beyond the limits of personal identity.
So Let’s Look at an Analogy…
The iceberg is the perfect analogy for the therapeutic process involved in utilizing a depth approach. The psyche has a conscious and unconscious.
The conscious is the part of the iceberg you can see. It isn’t very big, it is entirely visible, and you are mostly aware of it.
The unconscious is the part of the iceberg you cannot see. It is invisible to you and may be invisible to others. It is the part of you that consists of the shadow, complexes, repressed memories, etc. You often become aware of this part of yourself when you feel triggered, activated, or doing things or acting in ways that you wouldn’t normally; and there is often no logical explanation for why this is happening.
Understanding This Analogy in Therapy
Carl Jung believed that psychological distress is a result of an imbalance within the individual that often is experienced as an alienation from the deeper personality, or what he calls the Self. Through this process of restoring your connection to the Self you will be able to live from a more authentic sense of who you are and to discover an inner longing for a deeper sense of purpose and meaning.
Sometimes you might be able to identify where the pain or struggle is coming from and why, and this can be explored in a deeper way. Often what is happening is the struggle about the unknown aspects of ourselves informs much of what we do, which can be frustrating and challenging. A depth approach to understanding the known and unknown aspects of ourselves can be so gratifying. Exploring these aspects and starting to integrate them feels so rewarding and fulfilling. If you are open, present, and inquisitive, understanding will be within your reach.
This work will leave you feeling enlivened and open to even more possibilities for living an enriched, meaningful life.
Let’s start your journey to a stronger knowledge of Self.