What does doing 'deep work' mean?

Jan 16, 2015, 06:30 PM

What does 'deep work' mean to you and your T?

ScarletPimpernel · Jan 16, 2015, 06:33 PM

We don't use that term. But I assume it means core issues... issues that affect many aspects of your life. Issues that are difficult to talk about and process. Also, issues that have originated years ago and persisted.

For me it would be abandonment, attachment, sex, and anything to do with my body.

Jan 16, 2015, 06:40 PM

LOL. Anything beyond chit chat. Sorry. That's the first thing that went through my mind.

I really found most of therapy to be "deep" work. The level of introspection and connections having to be made in almost every session was "deep."

I'm guessing people will say their more emotionally intense sessions were "deep", but sometimes I get less insight when I'm overly emotional than at those times when I'm more able to really work through the connections with more reason than emotion.

JustShakey · Jan 16, 2015, 07:59 PM

I think it means working to understand behavior rather than just seeking to control it.

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tealBumblebee · Jan 16, 2015, 09:55 PM

For us it means discussing my past/things i've never discussed with anyone and working through it.

Petra5ed · Jan 17, 2015, 12:19 AM

I want to my therapist to do a certain kind of "deep work" with me.

ThisWayOut · Jan 17, 2015, 12:19 AM

I think I would call the "deeper" stuff the core, pervasive, and persistent issues that take more trust to get to... for me that would be advise stuff, self esteem, core beliefs...

Jan 17, 2015, 04:06 AM

Thanks guys. For me one of the deepest things is exploring the feelings I feel in my relationship with my T, which, as she tries to do the blank slate thing are assumed (by her and by me a bit) to relate to childhood stuff. I feel all kinds of different emotions, including anger, shame, and I can relate this to my childhood. I really want to talk about these feelings. I would have thought a psychodynamic T would consider these to be a core part of the work?

The_little_didgee · Jan 17, 2015, 12:34 PM

'Deep work' makes therapy sound like a hard university course.

Jan 17, 2015, 12:43 PM

I have never had a therapist actually say this. Do some of them actually use this term? It seems weird to me. It doesn't really mean anything.

Jan 17, 2015, 01:29 PM

My t uses that term. Well, she actually says "depth work". The way she explained it way back in the beginning was it's like peeling back the layers of an onion... I didn't really understand what she meant back then, but that was 3 years ago, but I understand it a little more gradually over time - it's like, working through all the crap that I have buried my real self under or something. We're getting there, it's very painful sometimes, really enlightening other times, makes me laugh at myself sometimes, I've wanted to rage-quit more than once, there's never a dull moment that's for sure. But I'm committed to the process and seeing it through.

Jan 17, 2015, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by puzzle_bug1987

I have never had a therapist actually say this. Do some of them actually use this term? It seems weird to me. It doesn't really mean anything.

I agree, after my appointment I started to think - what on earth did she mean by it.

Jan 17, 2015, 08:01 PM

From my t's online profile: "Depth Work implies an exploration of consciousness, not "symptom management." Your dis-ease with your self is often a "call" or knock on the door to begin the journey of "individuation," the process of finding wholeness and meaning."

Jan 18, 2015, 09:16 AM

Thanks Artemis. I think that that is where my T is coming from. My T wants to do an indepth analysis of my unconscious. I'm not too sure about it myself.

archipelago · Jan 18, 2015, 10:41 AM

It is a term used in certain areas, like Jungians call what they do depth work. And sometimes it does involve analysis of the unconscious material if that is part of the orientation and process of the therapy.

For me, though I don't actively use the term, I do implicitly use the concept all the time. After crisis issues or things about stressors and dysregulation, the things taken on in therapy have been deeper issues that usually involve trauma and early developmental derailments. I have found that even in adult trauma, there is a strong connection to something early in life that has affected how I have reacted to the trauma. Going back to what amounts to different ways my character or self was formed and actually making changes at that level are transformative. I would consider that to be depth work.

Jan 18, 2015, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brown Owl

Thanks Artemis. I think that that is where my T is coming from. My T wants to do an indepth analysis of my unconscious. I'm not too sure about it myself.

It is thrilling and frightening all at the same time, looking into your own depths. But has been oh so worth it for me when I look at how much I have changed for the better in the 3+ years I've been doing this work with t. I really did not know myself AT ALL when we first started. Working with my dreams has been my favorite part of it all I think. I've been a profound dreamer my whole life, and always figured they must mean something, but not until this t did I learn just how much I could grow by working with my dreams. She is very, very skilled at dream work and has taught me well.

Jan 18, 2015, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artemis-within

It is thrilling and frightening all at the same time, looking into your own depths. But has been oh so worth it for me when I look at how much I have changed for the better in the 3+ years I've been doing this work with t. I really did not know myself AT ALL when we first started. Working with my dreams has been my favorite part of it all I think. I've been a profound dreamer my whole life, and always figured they must mean something, but not until this t did I learn just how much I could grow by working with my dreams. She is very, very skilled at dream work and has taught me well.

Maybe I'm unsure of the therapeutic value of it? I feel the benefit of talking about things I've not talked about before and feeling emotions that I've shut out for years, it feels therapeutic just being with her when I am feeling a lot of emotion. I read some stuff about the neurological basis of psychotherapy, how the nurturing relationship changes your neurology. I can't see how the analysis really fits in with this? On the positive side I feel really changed by my therapy so far, it has really helped. I think about quitting everyday.

archipelago · Jan 18, 2015, 02:05 PM

I'm not sure if I understand, but my sense is that there is a distinction made between being with someone and analyzing something? I was just reading about how therapists choose different ways depending on what the client needs. Sometimes analysis or interpretation can interfere with the positive effects of the relationship. At other times though analysis is needed to effect a change because something different happens when you verbalize, narrate, and become self-reflective. Another aspect of the experience and of the self comes into play. These abilities are associated with different capacities of the self and different developmental tasks.

Jan 19, 2015, 08:44 AM

Thanks Archipelago, that's thought provoking. I kind of feel my T has been rushing me, taking me somewhere before I'm ready.

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