Mindful Self-Compassion, MI, and the Inquiry Method in Therapy
I was recently introduced to something called “Inquiry” in my Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy (SCIP) class. Inquiry is a word that the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) community uses to describe a strategy and skill set aimed at helping others develop confidence, competency, and insight. When applied to therapy, this Inquiry practice in therapy had a flavor of Motivational Interviewing (MI). But Inquiry seemed different from MI - lighter in texture and more subtle in color somehow. The two practices were similar enough that it caused me to feel a little confused and intrigued. So I decided to do a little more research on the topic and write a short article on it. I wrote the below paragraphs to help myself better understand the practice of Inquiry in the Mindful Self Compassion therapy office, and I hope it is helpful for others as well.
Definitions of Inquiry
An early definition of Inquiry is offered by Wolf and Serpa, “inquiry is the practice of midwifing a student’s learning and deepening the understanding of the underlying principles of mindfulness. It is a specific skill of the mindfulness facilitator used during the group process after a formal mediation practice” (2015). This conception of the practice of Inquiry centers on its use in group settings as a way of supporting participant learning of mindfulness. The language of “midwifing” seems to refer to supporting others in bringing out knowledge and strengths that are already innate to the participants. This word evolves later to the word “evoking,” one which is also commonly used in MI.
Mindfulness teacher Rob Brandsma describes Inquiry as “a conversation method aimed at exploring a personal practice experience – and reactions to that experience – by inviting participants to transcend their usual way of looking in order to assume a different perspective, one through which participants can acquire insight into unconscious patterns, enabling them to be less reactive in dealing with life’s challenges” (2017, p. 103). In this definition, Brandsma is pointing to the therapeutic and post-session effects that the Inquiry method can have for an individual. The post meditation guidance offered by inquiry is exploratory and transcendent. It helps us to “see the forest” when we may have been fixated on few tress – through inquiry we can adopt a new perspective. The practice of inquiry bridges the in-session mindfulness practice with the more general human experience of “dealing with life’s challenges” (Brandsma, 2017).
Chris Germer explains Inquiry as “a self-to-other dialogue that mirrors the self-to-self relationship that mindfulness and compassion teachers wish to cultivate in their students. In MSC training, inquiry usually follows an experiential practice (e.g., meditation, class exercise), but in psychotherapy we don’t necessarily have a practice to anchor the conversation so we focus on emotional challenges that the client may experience during or outside therapy” (Finlay-Jones & Neff, 2020, p. 25 & 26). This conception of Inquiry adapts the method for individual psychotherapy, noting that in the therapy Inquiry can be an exploration of day-to-day experience in addition to formal meditations. His explanation of Inquiry also notes the parallel process innate in how the therapist and client relate to each other. Germer also introduces the idea of therapist Rogerian empathy through “embodied listening,” this will be explored further in later paragraphs (Finlay-Jones & Neff, 2020).
How to do Inquiry
My amateur synopsis of how to describe Inquiry in therapy is: “a therapeutic process where a therapist develops and maintains a ‘container’ or space that feels safe for another to explore past and present challenges without judgment. The experiences explored in Inquiry can be related to in-session practices or post-session experiences, and the focus of the exploration tends to be on the person’s inner experience through the lens of Mindful Self Compassion.” Germier and Neff have given us some tangible activities that can help therapists understand “how” to create that space: radical acceptance, resonance, and resource building (the 3 Rs).
Radical Acceptance
Radical Acceptance in MSC can be described as the attitude or intention that the therapist aspires to adopt and promote in the therapy session. It includes, “abandoning the fight against our inner experience as it arises in the present moment” (Germer, 2020, page 22). Acceptance in MSC is aimed at accepting ourselves in the change process, “In MSC, radical acceptance refers not only to embracing our experience, but also to embracing ourselves. This does not mean that we are perfect and have no need to change. It refers to knowing and accepting ourselves, right now, as a foundation for meaningful change” (Germer & Neff, 2019, p. 133).
Radical acceptance invites the therapist to avoid fixing. In Motivational Interviewing, this is referred to as “resisting the righting reflex” (Miller & Rollnick, 2013). This acceptance is also grounded in honoring the culture, needs and situation of the other without judgment. In this way radical acceptance hints at cultural humility and the importance of honoring differences. The MSC version of radical acceptance places an emphasis on open ended questions as the primary utterances of the therapist. Finally, this type of acceptance is characterized by a sort of non-expert, compassionate mess authenticity : “It is better to be a natural, friendly person and make lots of mistakes rather than self-consciously trying to conduct a perfect inquiry. In other words, the intention for teachers is to learn what their students experienced during a practice, not to act as if they are doing inquiry” (Germer & Neff, 2019, p. 134).
Resonance
Resonance is the MSC approach to engaging with others through empathy. The MSC version of resonance refers to a therapist’s practice of “embodied listening” that results in the other “feeling felt,” this type of resonance is largely taken from Dan Siegel’s ideas outlined in the below excerpt:
“How energy “streams” or “flows” through our lives shapes our mental experience. If you smile at me and I don’t smile back, your feelings will be different than if I resonate with your smile, feeling the feelings inside of me and then revealing that resonance with a returned smile on my face, in my gestures, and in my tone of voice. Our separate bodies become “connected” as energy flows from you in the form of a smile that then connects with me. Your eyes and your ears pick up how that energy was received and two separate “entities” become connected as one in the exchange. This is how people come to feel “close” to each other even with physical distance that separates their physical bodies. Closeness is about resonance where two “systems” become linked as one” (Siegel, 2014).
Chris Germer uses the practice of identifying sympathetic “pings” to help therapists understand the process of developing this empathetic resonance with others. Germer explains that a ping is “a moment of salience that a therapist experiences in his or her body, or ‘what stands out’ while the client is talking, usually an emotion such as fear, sadness, relief, or awe” (Finlay-Jones & K. Neff, 2020, p. 25). So a therapist “listens with their body” by scanning their body for any sensations as the other is sharing experiences. When the therapist identifies a body sensation, emotion or other experience, they can then share that experience with the client. In this way the therapist is validating that experience, showing accurate empathy, and resonating with the person they are serving.
Resource Building
Resource Building is the intended outcome of Inquiry. In MSC, this term refers to helping another develop resources related to the practice of mindfulness and self-compassion. In addition to the practice of radical acceptance and resonance, resource building can be the result of a therapist highlighting the client’s strengths, successes, small wins or strong intentions to practice mindfulness and self compassion. Often clients (and all of us) tend to focus on areas they need to improve, and the therapist can help bring some small successes to the forefront. This is akin to “cultivating change talk” in Motivational Interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2013). Resource Building has an underlying assumption that we all have the tools needed to start the work of MSC, and the therapist role is to draw them out.
I have had the opportunity to learn, discuss, and practice the MSC version of Inquiry in my Self-Compassion in Psychotherapy (SCIP) training. My experience so far with this approach to helping others remind me of Motivational Interviewing. Like MI, Inquiry relies on empathy – but the empathy in MI is mostly “from the neck up,” while empathy in MSC is primarily “from the neck down.” Both approaches place nonjudgement and acceptance at the forefront of practice, and MSC Inquiry aims this acceptance also at the therapist’s internal experiences. Both MI and Inquiry foster exploration through dialogue with the other; MI’s exploration is directional, while the MSC Inquiry tends to maintain a stance closer to equipoise. MI focuses in on “change talk,” and Inquiry aims at “resource building” (Weinstein & Maynar, 2023; Miller & Rollnick, 2013).
When I discussed the similarities with two of my MSC teachers (in the SCIP Program), Benjamin Weinstein & Marta Alonso Maynar, they agreed and explained how they see the difference “when I think of MI I think of a big arrow, we are going somewhere; the symbol for Inquiry is [arms in a the shape of a container]… the outcome will happen.” I think that this sums up Inquiry well for me, and this explanation leaves me with one last attempt at describing the Inquiry method when using MSC in the therapy room: “Inquiry in therapy is a therapeutic approach that uses radical acceptance, resonance, and resource building to help the therapist co-create a container that supports the client in exploring deeper truths about themselves, their inner and outer experiences, and the larger world.”
Works Cited
Brandsma, R. (2017). The Mindfulness Teaching Guide: Essential Skills and Competencies for Teaching Mindfulness-Based Interventions. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
Finlay-Jones, A. & Neff, K (2020 Draft). Handbook of Self-Compassion. New York: Springer.
Germer, C & Neff, K. (2019). Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for Professionals. NY: Gilford Press.
Miller, W.R., and Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational Interviewing: Helping people change. NY: Guilford Press.
Siegel, D. (Sept. 14, 2014). Brain Insights and Well-Being. Article published on author’s website. Retrieved on 1/24/23 from: https://drdansiegel.com/brain-insights-and-well-being.
Weinstein, B. & Maynar, M. (Nov. 2023). Foundations 3: Therapeutic Interventions. Class lecture, Self Compassion in Psychotherapy Certificaiton Course, Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.
Wolf, C., & Serpa, G. (2015). A clinician’s guide to teaching mindfulness: The comprehensive session-by-session program for mental health professionals and health care providers. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
