How Compassionate Inquiry enriched my work and life

My Compassionate Inquiry (CI) training changed my life—personally and professionally! Little did I realize both were needed to elevate my practice and results with clients.

For those of you who are not familiar with Compassionate Inquiry, it is a mind-body inquiry approach created by Dr. Gabor Maté (MD) and developed by Dr. Sat Dharam Kaur (ND). According to the Compassionate Inquiry website, “Compassionate Inquiry gently uncovers and releases the layers of childhood trauma, constriction and suppressed emotion embedded in the body, that are at the root of illness and addiction… The goal of Compassionate Inquiry is to bring compassion, respect, acceptance, insight, healing, freedom and connection to humanity…”

I went into the CI training to improve my ability to hold space for my clients, so that they would feel safe, heard, and understood. I wanted to be able to listen with my gut and my heart and not only with my head. While my training as a physiotherapist taught me to be methodical and analytical, little time was spent on the soft skills of therapy, like deep listening, intuition, empathy, and compassion. I wanted to fill this gap.

However, to CI training soon took a personal turn. I quickly learn that to use CI with my clients, I first needed to learn to be empathetic and compassionate with myself—and this didn’t come as easily as I might have expected. Through an unexpected journey, the Compassionate Inquiry approach taught me to connect to my body and the present moment, to accept myself just as I am, and to be present to whatever arises inside me.

I also practiced holding space for whatever arises in others (being a quiet yet powerful presence). It was immediately clear how this would help me better serve my clients. What I didn’t expect was how this approach would energize me rather than deplete me. I later learned it is an essential skill to prevent therapist burnout, so I can stay strong and available for myself and my clients (“Help for the Helper”, B. Rothschild, 2006).

As I was finishing the CI training, I found my practice changing in subtle yet profound ways. In addition to listening to my client’s history, I started listening to the underlying emotional message. My perspective began to shift from “what is wrong with my clients and how I need to fix them” to “what happened to my client and how did they adapt to the adversity that was dealt to them”. My clients were no longer the helpless beings that needed my fixing. Instead, they became the heroines of their survival story. This reduced so much of the burden I was carrying to fix people, which made me see more clearly the best way forward in supporting them. My client interactions were unfolding in an atmosphere of deep listening, respect, and guidance rather than one of pragmatics and quick correction.

With these shifts in my treatment approach and perspective and by cultivating a compassionate and empathetic connection to myself and others, I have been able to create a safe space for my clients to open up to their own vulnerability and emotions. In my other blog post, “The Pelvic Floor is a Physical and Emotional Muscle,” I discuss how certain pelvic floor issues, such as vaginismus and dyspareunia, can only be resolved if a patient is able to open up to unprocessed emotions that are keeping the pelvic floor in protective mode. My training with Compassionate Inquiry has definitely strengthened my ability to assist clients with the resolution of these issues.

Overall, my work has become much more holistic and heart-centered thanks to the Compassionate Inquiry training, and client feedback says that therapeutic results have improved in turn. I am so excited at the possibilities that lie ahead for me and my clients and the satisfaction that comes with discovering our wholeness.

By Mia Dang, PT / a registered physiotherapist with extensive supplementary training in pelvic floor physiotherapy and perinatal care