Our own integration starts in the thinking mind of our therapist I wrote that almost exactly 3 years ago when talking about the therapeutic relationship. As I move into later phases of therapy it seems to me that this is one of the most profound things I have ever said. So please forgive […]
DID
Misinterpretations of DID-related behaviors (for helpers)
When we have DID, it is incredibly easy to get a misdiagnosis because the behaviors that we show based on our trauma history or inner experience get misinterpreted by mental health professionals. Common misdiagnoses are all kinds of personality disorders, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. In some cases, we might show isolated behaviors that are considered […]
Grounded Rescripting with dissociative parts
In Rescripting Techniques we work with the traumatic memory by looking at the scene and then changing things about it in our imagination to resolve the situation and bring it to a new and better ending. It is often done in the form of a rescue mission where our present self or adult parts enter […]
Epiphany #11: The Difference
What would make a difference? This is an essential question in DID therapy. Many of the normal therapy tools fail to reach deeper into the system than the facade of a host. The host agrees to do what is asked. They always do what they are supposed to do. But, does it make […]
Earned secure attachment within a DID system
Everyone has attachment. It is how humans are built. Not everyone has secure attachment though. The 3 insecure attachment types are anxious/preoccupied, avoidant/dismissive and disorganized. The vast majority of people with DID have disorganized attachment when we look at the whole person. This presentation is based on some parts who are attachment seeking and anxious […]
The 3 Phases of Trauma Therapy 3: Integration
Trauma and DID therapists commonly agree on working with a 3-phase model. It describes an order in which to do work for the best, fastest and safest results. In an attempt to keep articles short we will share about the different phases in separate articles. The 3 phases are Stabilization Trauma Processing Integration It […]
Integrating Contradicting Parts
Dissociated parts are not all the same person at a different developmental stage. The functions and abilities of one complete person were separated into many pieces to cope with traumatic situations. And then parts kept developing and growing around the piece of functioning that they contain. Today, they are more than this one ability or […]
Blending dissociative parts (advanced)
Blending is an act where dissociative barriers are dissolved for a limited time so that the experience of one part mixes with the experience of another. They experience a temporary unity of self and they can move apart again intentionally, as they wish. During the first phases of our treatment we want to avoid blending […]
Sharing between dissociative Parts
In DID, there is a separation between parts who contain different emotions, memories, abilities and different levels of awareness for body sensations. It is very common that parts represent polar opposites. One has barely any emotion, the other has way too much of it. One remembers trauma and the other doesn’t. And maybe one […]
Unblending overlapping dissociative Parts
Blending is a temporary experience where dissociative barriers are not as strong as usual and the inner experience of one part overlaps with the awareness of another. It does not feel like an intrusion from a strange, different part. For a limited time, it becomes our own experience. Blending in itself is not problematic if […]
House of Healing: After-Care for Memory Processing with dissociative Parts
There are different ways to approach trauma processing with dissociative parts. All of them are exhausting and slightly incomplete. Our therapy sessions are long enough to work with the memory but they are never long enough to deal with all the feelings of hurt and injury, they can never cover a whole recuperation phase. What […]
Co-regulating stress responses of inner parts
Parts can have vastly different experiences at the same time. While we are calm and oriented, other parts might be highly dysregulated. Their dysregulated states can leak into our experience and make us feel uncomfortable and sometimes it can outright flood us so that we lose our own regulation. It is also unpleasant and unfair […]
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