When we look at the standard protocol for EMDR we soon realize that it is too difficult for a lot of people with a background of severe abuse. We need more stability to manage trauma work, yet we can’t gain that stability because of our severe trauma symptoms. It can feel like we need to […]
DID
The Two Hands (for soothing inner parts)
The two hands is a small exercise meant to help with self-soothing and offer a felt sense of safety, protection or support. It is ideal when working with more or less dissociated parts in cPTSD or DID, but it could also work for people who don’t experience structural dissociation at all. Sometimes parts inside might […]
Synchronizing (advanced DID SystemWork)
Synchronizing is an advanced exercise for DID SystemWork. We need a certain level of communication and cooperation within the system, that we might not have at the very beginning. We will also struggle if we are still stuck in chronic dissociation because we need a form of mindfulness for this. If you want to avoid […]
Administering mental energy
Like time and money, energy is a limited resource. It means that we have to be careful how we spend it, otherwise there won’t be enough to manage our life. PTSD and dissociation use up a good amount of our energy, so that our stores are slimmer than those of other people. It means that […]
Integrating ‘new’ parts (DID SystemWork)
When parts have been stuck in TraumaTime for so long, arriving in the present, learning that there are others and all of life has changed, that we have aged, the body is big – all that can come as a shock. That is why we have developed a protocol for ourselves for welcoming ‘new’ parts. […]
Titration in Trauma Therapy
Titration is a chemical term that was taken out of context to explain a technique to approach psychological problems. Say we want to neutralize HCl with NaOH. Mixing the acid with the base should, with an easy calculation, give us H2O and NaCl, harmless water and salt. The problem is that an acid and a […]
Negotiating Emotion
It is normal for traumatized people to avoid the sensation of emotion. TraumaTime taught us that it is too much to handle. Since we are not living in TraumaTime anymore and emotion is a big part of feeling alive and happy, it is time to get in touch with our feelings again. The level of […]
Raising dissociative barriers (DID SystemWork)
A lot of the work we do in Phase 1 of our DID therapy has to do with making inner connections, lowering dissociative barriers and creating co-consciousness. It is good to be closer together and more aware of the world outside. Yet there are moments when it creates difficulties. Being constantly co-conscious increases our risk […]
Boundaries within the dissociative System (DID)
DID doesn’t mean having several people stuck in one body. We are all parts of one person, yet we are different from each other. Without acknowledging that there is a difference, a separation, a split, we cannot heal. We need boundaries between parts to reach our goal of connection. Avoiding this reality by trying to […]
Epiphany #4: The Hive
“What is bad for the hive cannot be good for the bee” (Marcus Aurelius) It is an illusion that parts of a DID system can have their own life and not influence each other. We are not different people, we share the same brain, the same body, the same life. We deceive ourself, if we […]
The Inner Garden (DID-adapted guided imagery)
The guided imagery of the Inner Garden is not one of the „useful“ exercises that are necessary for trauma therapy like the safe place or containment. It is one that is supposed to help you with relaxation and some DID systems like to have their team meetings there. As with all imagery work you should […]
Improving relationships with T.A.R.A.
Someone I respect often says that “you can’t change the people around you but you can change the people around you”. Concerning other parts of the DID system this is not an option. We are stuck with each other. Parts are different, it’s how DID works. We also often split into opposing extremes, which means […]
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