One month from today…. the DID Retreat experience continues…

Yep, a month from today we will begin our P4 Retreat: North Carolina 2023 experience.

We had such an awesome experience in Montana, that we’ve decided to do it again.  And maybe, just maybe, we’ll do it again next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.  But for the NC ’23 attendees, our retreat officially begins soon.  Real soon.  And we can’t be happier about that. Bring it on!  We’re ready to go!

What can be learned from a Retreat designed specifically for Dissociative Trauma Survivors?

• You will learn that you aren’t alone with your dissociative life.  Look, watch, listen, and see how other survivors also function as a dissociative system.

• Many of your questions about dissociation and DID can be answered, in person, in real time.  You will be surrounded by a room full of other survivors who might know from their own experiences, and/or you can ask Kathy what she thinks.

• You can learn by having FUN as a multiple — have an experience where many parts of your system can enjoy life for a while.  We really do giggle and laugh a lot.  Expect to have more smiles than you ever thought you had.

• Your system can learn to feel accepted, welcomed, and belonging by participating in a community where being DID is the norm, not the rare existence.  Ever met another dissociative system?  You will here! 

• You can learn more about Internal Communication and DID System Work.  You’ll have practice listening to your people, and DID-inspired activities to encourage exactly this.

• You can learn from the art projects you create together.  Creativity allows for all kinds of internal messages to surface.  Many layers, even hidden layers of communication can happen via your art.

• You can learn from the writing projects that you and your insiders will write.  What do your insiders need to say? What conversations does your inner group need to have?

• You can learn from participation in the DID skit activities, as you play a specific role.  What comes out from you might be a total surprise.  Be prepared to experience a little improv!

• We will have a clay board.  You got any pent up emotions or difficult things to say that you haven’t ever had the chance to express?  You need to learn that being angry doesn’t have to hurt you or get you in trouble?  The clayboard, as intense as it can be, provides one of the most healing aspects of the retreat.
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• We will have music, movement, and dance!  Learning to connect with the body, heart, and soul through these creative experiences is good.  It pushes people past their comfort zone in ways that are unique and also helpful.
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• You can learn from watching House Mom, that there are good moms in the world, and positive family relationships can happen.  Challenge all that momma-trauma transference stuff with a positive experience.

• You can learn that memories don’t have to always be painful.  Good memories are a real thing!  Got a good memory shortage?  We’ll certainly give you a bucket full of good memories at NC ’23.

• Your insiders can experience a whole wide array of new experiences, allowing them to learn while they have fun, explore, and take adventures.   Your life at NC ’23 won’t look the same as your life at home, and you’ll be surprised at the littlest things that will have a positive impact for your system.  Someone might give you a hug!  Or… at the same time, your need for personal space, boundaries, and distance could be fully respected.  How often do these statements ring true for you?
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• Your issues and personal “stuck” areas will be challenged.  Have trouble eating with a group?  You may learn a new way to cope with that.  Have issues sitting in a group?  You may learn how to manage that better.  Uncomfortable with people who wear certain clothes?  You might have to work on finding a level of tolerance.
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• Your insiders can learn to play.  So many dissociative systems are trauma-based, of course, and when childhood was filled with fear and pain, there wasn’t much space for play.  Let your little ones regain some of what they lost by building new memories today.  As insiders have some fun, and listen to stories, or explore outside, they can learn that play is possible.

• I’ve heard that some of the dissociative teen parts are planning some fun of their own.  Doing their hair?  Doing their nails?  Maybe having some teen-themed music for a bit?  I don’t know all the plans yet — but I know those teenagers are talking about what they want to do as well.
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• You can learn that other people have had experiences similar to yours.  Of course, not everyone is the same, and all our histories are unique.  However, as you get to spend quality time with other DID survivors, you will find more and more common areas.  Want to know how someone else approached a specific problem?  Ask them!  They may have some good ideas to share with you.

• You can learn how it feels to live life freely.  Your insiders can come out as they need to, and they don’t have to stay stifled inside.  They get to breathe.  They get to exist.  They get to be REAL.  This permission to be more of who you really are is a breath of fresh air!

Are you tired of living life alone as a DID survivor?

To meet others, and build friendships, consider joining us at NC ’23.

Better yet, for year-round support and interaction, join us at the Discussing Dissociation Community Forum.

Much of the whole cold, cruel world out there may not understand DID, or dissociation, or trauma, or switching, or plurality, or multiplicity, but in this environment, dissociative systems are welcomed warmly, and encouraged to exist in all the best ways they can be.  We get it!  We really do understand dissociation!  Not even Kathy is a newbie trying to figure out what DID is or looks like.  You will be with people who genuinely understand the depths of DID and what it looks like, and how it feels to live this way.

Spaces are limited at P4 Retreats — they are not like conferences where just anyone can come and sit in the back row, or walk in and out whenever they please.  Retreats are an intensely-lived real-life experience, specifically designed, individually-screened, and absolutely yes, approved attendance involves a number of pre-requisites.   Safety matters, and we do want to know who you are before you join in.  Just like you need to know who you are joining in with, confirming your readiness for a retreat experience is important to us as well.

However, with that being said, don’t be scared to reach out and consider something new.  Retreats are challenging, that is for sure.  You’ll experience triggers, even if you don’t want to.  You’ll also experience a whole new and hopefully positive way to manage your dissociative life, even if you are triggered.  You’ll see and hear things from others, you didn’t expect — count on it.  Oh, but this can be wonderful, as well as difficult.  You’ll be encouraged to cross into areas of discomfort where you hadn’t been able to go before — all for growth and healing, not for pain and trauma. 

Living in close quarters, for a week (or more) with a more than a dozen multiple systems will create many blessings, complex puzzles, complicated conundrums, and barrels of good times.  Ever done that before?  It is definitely a unique experience!  You will learn new things!

Life is just as real at a retreat setting as it is in any other place.  We are sheltered from some of the stresses of the world, of course, but other areas will be challenged.  While much of a P4 Retreat will feel like a vacation (and it will be a vacation of sorts, especially because our Retreat Location is an incredible luxurious place), there will be much healing work that happens as well.  Expect that, and plan for it.  Don’t come unless you’re ready for it.

Your healing and personal growth matters, your happiness and anxiety levels matter, and finding ways to live life to the fullest is a challenge.  When I say that, I’m referring to your entire dissociative system, not just your front people.  This is where a DID Retreat is unique — many of your insiders will have unexpected and unrivaled growth experiences as well.  

A P4 Retreat.  It’s an exciting, innovative, creative, dynamic, wonderful experience.

And there’s nothing else out there like it.  Nothing that I know of compares to a P4 Retreat.   

For more information, contact Kathy

Or go to P4DIDConference.com  — the website dedicated to sharing information about P4 events.

ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!

If I don’t see you in North Carolina, I hope to see you at the next event.  Start planning now…

And of course, even if you don’t go to NC’23, I’m wishing you the very best in your healing journey.

Warmly, 

Kathy

For more information, go to:

P4DIDConference.com

Copyright © 2008-2023 Kathy Broady MSW and Discussing Dissociation