What is Depth Therapy?
You may have heard the term “depth therapy” but wonder, what exactly does it mean?
Depth therapy seeks to look thoroughly (i.e., deeply) into a problem through understanding and treating the underlying root causes. Rather than targeting symptoms right away, a depth approach will first help you understand the contributing factors. From this nuanced understanding, the underlying issues can be better addressed. This approach is powerful, as it often results in more profound and lasting change than if the symptoms themselves are the initial primary target.
Let’s look at an example involving physical health: if you are experiencing acid reflux and you take a medication to treat the symptoms, such as a proton pump inhibitor, your symptoms may lessen, however the underlying factors contributing to the acid reflux are still present in your body. While this medication is helpful, without it (many PPIs are not indicated for long term use), the symptoms return since the root cause has not been identified or directly addressed. Emotional symptoms, such as anxiety or depression, tend to operate in a similar way. While it is important to shift behavior, as well as learn tools to cope, if we do so in isolation, the change is often superficial or we quickly revert back to old patterns.
In the field of psychology, depth therapy is also known as “psychodynamic therapy” (in other words, understanding the underlying dynamics behind one’s psychology). Originally created by Freud, this modality has evolved significantly since the 1800’s. Today depth, or psychodynamic treatment, involves:
Building a safe and trusting relationship between the client and therapist that can in and of itself contribute to healing
Increasing awareness of the way the past affects current thoughts, feelings, and experiences in the world
Bringing consciousness to unconscious feelings and patterns playing out
Once root causes are identified, there are many powerful modalities to treat both the root cause, as well as the associated symptoms (EMDR, or Eye-Movement, Desensitization & Reprocessing Therapy, is one such treatment).
If you are interested in learning more about depth therapy and how it might help what you are experiencing, please reach out. SageWell Health specializes in this type of transformative treatment. Learn more about our approach or click below to set up a free 15-minute consultation.