Contemplative Therapy
“Healing begins the moment we dare to sit with what is, instead of trying to become someone else.”
What is contemplative therapy?
At its roots, it is the belief and practice of tuning in to the realities of ourselves and our lives with presence and compassion. This allows us to more accurately relate to what is in front of us—or within us. Often, we are berated by self-critical talk, anxious thoughts, and all kinds of stories we overlay onto our experience. But when we learn to slow down, tune in deeply, and make contact with our true essence, we discover something both simpler and more profound than we could imagine. Perhaps it is okay to be human. Perhaps it is okay to feel what we feel. Perhaps there is wisdom in what is alive within us. We just need to learn how to relate to it and how to work with it.
Traditional Western psychology often moves from a symptom- or pathology-oriented lens. Much like that self-critical voice, it assesses what is wrong. What is the problem? How do I fix it? How do I change myself? While it is understandable to want to reduce suffering and find solutions to the problems in our lives, not everything is as simple as a surgery or a to-do list of coping skills. Sometimes those things help, but there is often a deeper need, desire, emotion, trauma, grief, or spiritual process calling for attention when symptoms arise.
Contemplative psychology, by contrast, orients toward the basic health and inherent “goodness” within each human being. It views symptoms and suffering as signs that we are avoiding our truth, emotions, or reality. The more we try to avoid ourselves, the more things hurt—and the more suffering occurs. It can feel counterintuitive: Why should I turn toward the very thing that is hurting so much? Yet by turning toward ourselves with compassion, and seeing ourselves clearly with love, the problems we have experienced can begin to unwind, make sense, be felt, and be attended to with care.
This can all be easier said than done. Don’t we all wish we could replace our self-critical voice with a more compassionate or loving one? Ingrained patterns and internalized beliefs about ourselves—from family, culture, society, and workplaces—can take root deeply within our psyche. Tangled emotions within our nervous system can also make it difficult to know what we are truly feeling or sensing inside.
This is why having a guide or therapist for support can be so helpful. A therapist can hold the compassionate, open, curious, and gentle view needed to begin making contact with your true self—to grieve the past, bring love to the present, and hold clear-seeing possibility for the future. They can also help teach the skills needed to support this process. These can include:
Building relationships with exiled parts of yourself
Building resources and comfort in your body
Understanding self-critical or protective parts of yourself
Understanding what true self-compassion means
Learning how to listen to helpful vs. unhelpful internal cues
Building discernment and wisdom
Processing past trauma or grief
Making room for health, growth, and possibility
At True Essence Therapy, every clinician has a therapeutic approach rooted in compassion, curiosity, present-moment awareness, and honoring symptoms as calls for attention. We believe in your mind-body’s innate capacity for alignment and wisdom. While we may use traditional “coping skills” at times to help you move through difficult moments, we keep a steady pulse on the deeper roots of wisdom arising within each client. We are committed to supporting you in becoming who you truly are—and helping you live a life that supports that truth.
We would be honored to walk this path of discovery with you. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to connect.