The Approach
Understanding how Six Spaces works and why the questions feel different.
Stepping into Quiet Spaces
Six Spaces offers six quiet places to step into - six perspectives from which to explore your experience: Here, There, Before, After, Inside, and Outside.
Each session, you choose one space to step into. A series of gentle questions helps you discover what's there - at your own pace, in your own way.
Unlike advice-giving or problem-solving, this approach trusts that you already have the insights you need. The questions simply help them surface.
The Six Spaces
Here
The present moment.
There
Where you'd like to be.
Before
Life before the change.
After
What has happened since.
Inside
Your internal world.
Outside
The world around you.
Origins
This approach is inspired by the work of David Grove (1950-2008), a New Zealand psychologist with European and Māori ancestry. Grove completed a BSc at the University of Canterbury, followed by postgraduate studies in Business Administration at Otago University and a degree in Counselling Psychology at the State University of Minnesota.
While working with trauma victims during the 1980s, Grove discovered that patients would often speak in metaphor to describe their experience. He found that the most effective way of helping them was to honour their metaphors by asking open questions that reflected their exact words. Over years of practice, he identified questions that would least influence the patient, giving this process the name "Clean Language".
Grove later developed these linguistic techniques into spatial methods, culminating in "Emergent Knowledge" - based on the science of emergence (how complex patterns arise from simple rules, like ant colonies or internet search algorithms). The approach uses iterative questions - asked approximately six times - to help previously obscured knowledge emerge naturally.
Six Spaces adapts these Emergent Knowledge principles for self-guided reflection, with safety boundaries that make it suitable for unsupervised use.
Key Principles
Your Words, Reflected
The questions use your exact words. If you mention "uncertainty," the next question might be "And when uncertainty, what do you notice?" or "And uncertainty is like what?" This honours your language rather than interpreting or translating it.
Minimal Assumptions
"Clean" questions avoid leading you toward any particular answer. They don't assume what you should feel or what you need. The exploration is entirely yours.
Bounded and Safe
Unlike open-ended therapy, Six Spaces has clear boundaries: one space per session, 30 minutes maximum. This containment makes the process manageable and prevents going too deep without support.
No Right or Wrong
There are no correct answers. Whatever comes to mind is valid. Sometimes the most useful responses are the ones that surprise you.
Why the Questions Feel Strange
You might notice the questions are phrased unusually. Phrases like "And when..." or "And is there anything else about..." might feel awkward. This is deliberate.
The questions follow patterns from Emergent Knowledge techniques: they begin with "And" to create a gentler, less invasive feel. They're delivered in a rhythm that allows space for your intuition to respond, rather than your conscious mind rushing to answer.
You'll notice the questions deepen as you go - from noticing ("what do you notice?"), to exploring metaphor ("is like what?"), to extracting knowledge ("what does it know?"), and finally to integration ("what do you know now?"). This iterative pattern helps knowledge emerge that may have been obscured.
If it feels strange, that's okay. Many people find that after a session or two, the strangeness becomes helpful - it signals a different kind of exploration is happening.
What This Is Not
Not therapy: This is self-reflection, not treatment. It doesn't replace professional mental health support.
Not advice: The questions don't tell you what to think or do. Any insights come from you.
Not analysis: We don't interpret your responses or tell you what they mean.
Not AI: The question patterns are deterministic, not generated by artificial intelligence. Your data is not used for training.
Getting the Most from It
- • Take your time. There's no rush. Let your responses emerge naturally.
- • Trust what comes. Even if a response seems odd, go with it.
- • Use your own words. Plain language works best. No need to be eloquent.
- • Pause if needed. You can always pause a session and return later.
- • Notice what emerges. The final question asks what you know now - this is often where insight crystallises.
Learn More
If you're interested in the underlying techniques, here are some resources:
Books:
- "Clean Coaching: The Insider Guide to Making Change Happen" by Angela Dunbar
- "Metaphors in Mind" by Penny Tompkins and James Lawley
- "The Life and Work of David Grove" by Carol Wilson