Are Online Compassionate Inquiry Sessions Right for You?
Work with a certified Compassionate Inquiry practitioner from anywhere in the world. Explore the beliefs, patterns, and emotional wounds shaping your life — with kindness, curiosity, and the safety of a therapeutic relationship built on deep presence.
What is Compassionate Inquiry?
Compassionate Inquiry is a therapeutic approach developed by Dr. Gabor Maté that goes beneath the surface of your symptoms — the anxiety, the relationship patterns, the self-sabotage — to uncover the hidden beliefs and emotional wounds driving them. It’s not about fixing what’s “wrong” with you. It’s about understanding, with compassion and curiosity, how you adapted to survive — and choosing, from that understanding, how you want to live now.
In a CI session, I guide you through a process of gentle questioning that helps you feel and experience — not just intellectually understand — the beliefs that have shaped your life. We sit together. We talk. We honour whatever comes up. And through that process, parts of yourself that have been hidden, suppressed, or judged begin to be seen and integrated.
Who are these sessions for?
Compassionate Inquiry can be profoundly helpful if you’re navigating childhood trauma and its lingering effects on your adult life, anxiety, depression, or chronic stress that feels “stuck,” patterns you keep repeating in relationships or work despite knowing better, grief, loss, or life transitions, burnout and emotional exhaustion, chronic illness or physical symptoms connected to emotional patterns, addiction or unhealthy coping mechanisms, or a general sense that you’re not living as your authentic self.
CI is designed for adults (18+). It works well for people who’ve done therapy before and want to go deeper, as well as those who are new to therapeutic work but drawn to a compassionate, non-judgemental approach.
How online sessions work
Sessions happen over Zoom and are available to clients anywhere in the world. Here’s what the process looks like:
1. Free consultation. We start with a conversation. I want to understand what brings you here, answer your questions, and make sure we’re a good fit for each other. There’s no obligation.
2. Your first session. We’ll begin with an intention you bring — something you want to explore. Through a process of compassionate questioning, we’ll gently move toward the beliefs, emotions, and body sensations beneath the surface. You set the pace. You can pause or stop at any time.
3. Ongoing sessions. I recommend a minimum of five sessions so we can build enough trust and depth for meaningful work. Sessions are typically 60 minutes, scheduled weekly or fortnightly depending on your needs and what feels sustainable for you.
4. Integration. Between sessions, I may suggest simple practices — journaling, body awareness, or reflection prompts — to help you integrate what surfaces. Healing doesn’t only happen in the session room.
About your practitioner
I’m Louise Gonzaga, a certified Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner and the founder of Sonum Therapies in Bangalore, India. I completed my CI certification through Dr. Gabor Maté’s official training program and continue to deepen my practice through ongoing learning and supervision.
Before CI, my path led me through medical interpreting at a children’s hospital in the US, speech therapy training, and certification as a Systemic Listening Therapist at the Auris Integralis Institute in Germany. I speak six languages and have lived and worked across three continents. This background gives me a sensitivity to cultural nuance and the many ways people carry and express their experiences.
My approach is grounded in unconditional acceptance, non-judgement, and a deep respect for where you are in your journey. Whether you’re in Sydney, Singapore, London, or anywhere else; if you’re seeking a safe, compassionate space to understand yourself more deeply, I’d love to work with you.
Practical details
Format: Online via Zoom (video call)
Session length: 60 minutes
Recommended commitment: Minimum 5 sessions
Scheduling: Flexible across time zones; morning, afternoon, and evening slots available
Languages: English (primary), with sessions also available in other languages; please ask.
Investment: Please book a free consultation for current pricing. Session packages available.
“Louise’s sessions are just brilliant: giving me the tools to start to see who I was as a child, what I am carrying and actually start valuing and understanding myself.” — G.N., Sonum client
Ready to begin? Let’s chat!