Dual Awareness

Dual awareness is an important mental skill that is needed for regulation and trauma processing. For dual awareness we need to be able to pay attention to our inner reality and our senses, that tell us about the outside reality at the same time.

That way we can stay oriented and grounded in triggering situations. We can sense our emotions, thoughts and inner pictures but we are also aware of the world around us and that nothing bad is happening. This is a core element of self-regulation that is often overlooked.

All effective techniques for trauma processing that I am aware of need dual attention. We look at the memory of the traumatizing experience while we also stay grounded in the present and aware of our surroundings to some degree.

 

That can be incredibly hard for chronically traumatized people. We tend to either feel all the old things and get sucked in completely or we are well oriented but out of touch with our inner experience. What we aim for is having one foot in the present and the other one in the past while keeping a balance.

People with cPTSD often need to develop their ability for dual attention before they ever try it with trauma memories. It needs mental capacities that aren’t always available from the start.

 

You can create your own little exercises by freely combining elements of your inner experience and your sensory perception of your body or the outside world.

 

Choose one of these inner actions

• remember a happy memory
• notice if you have any impulses or urges
• notice your emotions
• repeat a mantra in your head
• imagine a pink elephant
• picture the face of a loved one
• remember your last therapy session
• recall a scene in a movie and let it pass before your inner eye
• read in a book
• ….

 

and combine them with one of these sensory actions

• notice your breath
• sense your hands
• notice items around you
• listen to the noises around you
• sense how tight or relaxed your muscles are
• sense where your body touches the chair
• let your gaze wander up and down, left and right
• touch a surface and sense what it feels like
• listen to a piece of music you like
• ….

 

I obviously just made these up and so can you. Some combinations will be harder than others. If that is available to you, it is best to start with noticing your breath while you do other things in your mind. Staying connected to our breath during the day has a lot of benefits when it comes to regulation and time spent practicing that is never wasted.

If paying attention to inner actions is still too much, pick one body part and stay aware of it while you listen to sounds around you.

 

Triple awareness

When we get stressed we lose connection with other living beings around us. So once we are more secure in our ability for dual awareness we might want to add awareness for other people, like triple awareness. We can practice to eg notice our muscle tension while we describe our feelings and stay aware of the presence of our therapist and their body language at the same time. That way we add possibilities for co-regulation into the mix.

 

Multi-awareness

People with DID can add another layer by paying attention to the various different inner experiences at the same time. We can sense how ‘I’ feel and how other parts of us feel about the same thing or situation and be aware of both. This ability will serve us greatly when we are working toward co-consciousness and a more integrated life.

To step that up a notch, several parts can try to sense each other at the same time, then add awareness for the outside world.

On the level of mastery we can pay attention to several inner experiences while also keeping track of our body sensations and the room and people around us. It sounds like a lot but it is really a matter of practice. This is the level that would be best if you go for trauma processing with a system using standard techniques like EMDR. If that is not available to you, fragmented processing is needed. It is your T’s job to make sure the technique fits your skill level.

 

Start small and once you have mastered it you can add more dimensions. Don’t practice for too long, this needs quite a bit of mental energy. Don’t practice with trauma memories, leave that for your therapy sessions.