To support therapy and stabilization it helps to collect all the resources you have found or learned and keep them in one place. That is why we own a resource (scrap)book. It is a visual and tangible reminder of helpful and positive things. Being creative when making it also deepens our understanding of our coping skills and helps us to internalize the resources even more.
What you will need:
- some kind of big notebook/scrapbook: some like it blank, some prefer dotted. Pick a nice cover (we have unicorns <3)
- a pen
If you are not artsy, don’t push yourself to fake it. This book should reflect you and it is ok if you simply write things down.
If you enjoy art, please make sure to tame your inner perfectionist. This is not a competition. It’s for you, not for Instagram.
You might like to add colors, colored paper, stickers, pictures, etc…
Here are some ideas for pages you could design:
- Who I am
- My personal strength
- My gifts & talents
- How far I have come already
- Who I want to become
- Things I like
- What brings me joy/pleasure
- What I am good at
- What skills work best for me
- What soothes me
- Memories of positive experiences
- Nice things people have said to me
- Nice things I can say to myself
- What I can contribute to the world
- Things I have achieved in my life
- People who are important for me
- What I need to feel safe
- My safe place
- My containment container
- container
- Other favorite imagery
- My safety plan
- My bucket list
- Motivational quotes
- My personal hero/ role model
- My hobbies
- My inner helpers
- How I stop flashbacks
- My values & beliefs
- My self-care routine
- What I can do when I feel ____
- Praise I received
- My love language
- My faith/religion/philosophy
- My skill-chains
- My favorite ______
- ….
- ….
- ….
Please feel free to add to this list. It is surely not exhaustive. Write down/paint/scrapbook what is meaningful for you! You could even ask your T or other important people to write something for you if you like.
Make sure to stick to the positive experiences and resources so that when you flip through your book it will only give you hope and good feelings and remind you what to do in a difficult situation.
You guessed it, if you have DID you are in for an extra round.
You can create a system resource (scrap)book!
Maybe you would like to divide it into chapters so that every system member can have their own space to design.
You could start with
- A system list/map?
- Things you all share?
- Common routines?
- Or your individual jobs & agreements?
- ….
And then go on with the ideas described above, for every single one of you. Pick a big book. Just saying.
We use a color-code within our system where everyone picked a color to represent them. We usually write in our own color and our pages in the resource book are marked with this color. It makes it easier to keep track of everything. Of course you can use names, symbols, pictures, stamps, stickers or whatever you like.
It can be helpful to have an overview of individual resources, because not all skills help everyone in a system in the same way. There are different preferences, different characters, likes, talents etc. Writing all of this down doesn’t just help you to get to know each other better, it can also give you hints on how to help and support each other in difficult situations.
You can always glue in extra pages in case things change.
Maybe you can even have space where you can leave encouraging messages for each other, point out successes, give praise, remind of happy moments together and give positive feedback.
We are now using worksheets from the therapeutic treasure box (Treisman) to support the Littles in creating their own pages. An older part or T should be present to help them and ask questions for guidance. It doesn’t have to be perfect or complete. You can always add things later. This should be a playful and fun activity that makes you feels closer to each other.
You should make an agreement not to destroy this book in anger or spite. It is supposed to help you all.
Keep a separate book for communication and organisation. This one is just for positive reminders and resources.
I really hope you will give this a try. It is not just helpful to have, the act of making it is an important support for your therapy/system work in itself.
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