Inquiry ~ The Work of Byron Katie
Who Would You Be Without Your Story?
Reality is always kinder than your thinking. I bow at the alter of reality ~ Byron Katie
THE WORK OF INQUIRY
Inquiry, or as it’s commonly known ‘The Work’ was developed by Byron Katie. You can do this powerful work by yourself, or with facilitation in session.
Byron Katie, founder of The Work, has one job: to teach people how to end their own suffering. As she guides people through the powerful process of inquiry she calls The Work, they find that their stressful beliefs—about life, other people, or themselves—radically shift and their lives are changed forever. Based on Byron Katie’s direct experience of how suffering is created and ended, The Work is an astonishingly simple process, accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds, and requires nothing more than a pen, paper, and an open mind.
Through this process, anyone can learn to trace unhappiness to its source and deal with it there. Katie (as everyone calls her) not only shows us that all the problems in the world originate in our thinking: she gives us the tool to open our minds and set ourselves free.
How the Work Began
Byron Katie became severely depressed in her early thirties. For almost a decade she spiraled down into rage, self-loathing, and constant thoughts of suicide. For the last two years she was often unable to leave her bedroom. Then one morning in February 1986, she experienced a life-changing realization. There are various names for an experience like this. Katie calls it “waking up to reality.”
In that instant, she says,
“I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn’t believe them, I didn’t suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment. That joy is in everyone, always.”
She realized that what had been causing her depression was not the world around her, but the beliefs she’d had about the world. Instead of hopelessly trying to change the world to match her thoughts about how it should be, she could question these thoughts and, by meeting reality as it is, experience unimaginable freedom and joy. As a result, a bedridden, suicidal woman was instantly filled with love for everything life brings.
The Work, Katie’s process of self-inquiry, didn’t develop from this experience; she says that it woke up with her, as her, that February morning in 1986. The first people who did The Work reported that it had transformed their lives, and she soon began receiving invitations to teach the process publicly.
Since 1986, she has brought The Work to millions of people across the world, at free public events, in prisons, hospitals, churches, corporations, universities, schools, at weekend workshops, at her amazing nine-day School for The Work, and through the Institute for The Work.
Are you ready to change your thinking and indeed your world? Then, I am ready to guide you in this life changing experience.
However, if you prefer, You can do this yourself, FREE of charge – Everything you need to do The Work by yourself is available free on her website, link below.
Want to know more about The Work? Please visit: http://thework.com/en
Why not give it a go yourself, you have nothing to lose, except your story and if you get stuck, or feel you could benefit from some professional guidance, schedule an appointment with me.
I am always open about my thought process and the approaches I use because I consider the work to be collaboration.
Here are some of the issues I work with:
- Emerging from depression
- Becoming less anxious, more relaxed, more confident
- Healing traumatic memories that may be inhibiting or upsetting you in the present
- Improving your relationship with yourself
- Improving your relationship with others
- Taming a harsh inner critic
- Mastering panic attacks
- Overcoming phobias
- Grieving in a healthy way
- And many other issues as well
Regardless of the issues, my overall goal is to provide a place that is welcoming and confidential where you can engage with a skilled psychotherapist to create positive changes in your life.
My Unique Approaches
I don’t confine myself to any single theoretical orientation. I utilize a variety of approaches favouring brief solution focused (BSF) methods. My goal is to ensure you get the changes you want both effectively and quickly.
My practice is influenced by Positive psychology, Human Givens psychology, Buddhist Psychology & Mindfulness, Internal Family Systems, Focusing, Emotional Intelligence, Positive NeuroPlasticity Therapies and Hypnosis.
It's All About You
I may have a favorite theory or therapeutic technique that I tend to use more often or fall back on, but I am always willing to and often use all that are available to me.
After all, the key here is to help you as quickly and as effectively as possible ~ Not to pigeon-hole you into some set way of looking at all people, whether it works for you or not.
Contact me if you could benefit from a therapist who will work with you to find the solutions that YOU want, efficiently and effectively.