“The purpose of Compassionate Inquiry is to drill down to the core stories people tell themselves – to get them to see what story they are telling themselves unconsciously; what those beliefs are, where they came from; and guide them to the possibility of letting go of those stories, or letting go of the hold those stories have on them …” —Dr. Gabor Maté
The exploration of emotional trauma with compassion and without blame was a huge turning point in my personal growth journey. Dr. Maté's approach towards healing focuses on tapping into our child-selves, to go back and reflect on how we experienced the world when we were most vulnerable.
I stumbled upon Compassionate Inquiry after experiencing emotional outbursts whenever I saw Mr. Rogers (read my previous blog here) and my sessions with my Compassionate Inquiry coach, Paul, tapped me into Little Ming-Wai and helped me work through childhood trauma that I had pushed WAY deep down.
What I love about Dr. Maté's approach is that there is no blame - it's no one's "fault" - but I can now reflect and work through my lived experience with honesty and love for my child-self. This is deep emotional and sometimes uncomfortable internal work but I realize that the coping mechanisms that I put in place as a sensitive child don't necessarily serve me anymore. It's helped me let go and move forward with kindness and compassion for myself and others.
Read more about my CI coach (Paul) and about the CI approach.
With love,
Ming-Wai