Depth Therapy

What is Depth Therapy?

Depth Therapy seeks to go below the surface to deeper, underlying causes of problems, deeper then outer symptoms of anxiety and depression (see Depression Facts).  There are many types of Depth Therapy ranging from Psychoanalytic to Jungian to Existential.  While Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tends to focus on symptoms of distress (for example, how anxiety or depression manifest in your life), Depth Therapy penetrates beneath the outer form of the disturbance (the actual symptoms) to where it may originate outside of conscious awareness.  The focus is on therapeutically exploring underlying causes, making them conscious, developing insights, and working through these issues.  Over time the self protective masks gradually let down to reveal the wounded and fragile areas that lay beneath.  This usually happens slowly over time and allows recognition of deep issues and then processing of feeling which leads to true changes.  When conducting Depth Therapy I help explore areas that bother you, make connections, and thereby create new choices.  You learn to interpret how current behavior is often a reflection of past, “unfinished business.”  What is “unfinished” is then worked through to some resolution.  In this approach I sometimes use dreams and active imagination.

What are the benefits of Depth Therapy?

Depth Therapy is important for long term problems (ones you had for some time) and can help alleviate emotional distress caused by old issues that have never been fully resolved (but still affect you).  Psychological trauma, especially in childhood but also at other times is an example of an “old issue” that may have never been resolved, see “What is Trauma and How is it Treated?” People have reported feeling more “whole”, psychologically intact or integrated, resilient, and self aware as a result of Depth Therapy.  Most people experience a deeper understanding of themselves, their lives, and their place in the world with an enhanced sense of meaning.  Some people make contact with their deepest inner Self, and have reported a renewed sense of “wholeness” that can have a spiritual quality, depending on the person.  Other benefits can include being more present, aware, “grounded”, and mindful.

Types of Depth Therapy I use in my practice

• Jungian (I completed my internship at the CG Jung Institute in San Francisco)
• Object Relations and Family of Origin
• Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic
• Depth Oriented Hypnotherapy
• Dream interpretation