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You are here: Home / Archives for Darkness

The Heaviness of Darkness

By Kathy Broady MSW 26 Comments

  When darkness sits on people, it can really sit on them. And squish them down. And remove all joy, love, beauty from their lives. Or for those with Dissociative Identity Disorder, the dark side of the system can completely flip over the top, dominating the other sides of the system.  The dark ones are in control. DID survivors, split and torn by years of traumatic darkness, pain, and heartbreak. When … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression, DID Education, DID/MPD, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Domestic Violence, emotional pain, Family Members of Trauma Survivors, Fear, Trauma Tagged With: Darkness, Despair, Dissociative Trauma Survivors, emotional pain, Feeling hurt, Healing from darkness

The Emotional Container of Abuse

By Kathy Broady MSW 5 Comments

  Emotional abuse. This is a complicated topic.  It's a topic I've tried to explain to many dissociative trauma survivors many many times.   The concept of emotional abuse can be hard to grasp.  This is because the trauma survivor often internalizes the perpetrator's offensive verbage, believing it to be true.  But it's not true.  Not at all. In this article, I will describe one example of the dynamic of a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: DID Education, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Domestic Violence, emotional pain, Family Members of Trauma Survivors, Fear, Friends of Multiples, Introjects, mental health, Physical Abuse, Prevention of Sexual Abuse, Therapy Homework Ideas, Trauma Tagged With: Building a backbone, Building a wall, Container of emotions, Create a boundary, Creating Safety, Darkness, Dysfunctional Relationships, Emotional Abuse, Emotional boundaries, Family Violence, Hatred, Projection of emotion, rage, Refusing abuse, Safety First, That's not me, ugliness, Verbal abuse, Wall off the abuse, your darkness

Can the Horrors of Halloween Drain Away, Leaving Room for Fun?

By Kathy Broady MSW 21 Comments

For most dissociative trauma survivors, Halloween is a difficult time. Halloween is an expansion filled with horrific memories, vivid flashbacks, overwhelming darkness, and uncomforted fear. Internal systems flip and change, with those typically lodged in the back finding their way to the front, making the usual everyday feel completely different from before. Working with these dark parts is essential for healing. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: DID Education, DID/MPD, Dissociative Identity Disorder, emotional pain, Fear, Fun!, Internal Communication, Ritual Abuse, Therapy Homework Ideas, Trauma Tagged With: Children and Youth, Corrective Emotional Experience, Darkness, DID / MPD, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Fear, from pain to gain, Fun, Halloween, Healing, Healing trauma memories, Holidays, Jack-o'-lantern, Kathy Broady, pain, Pumpkin crafts, Pumpkins, resolving trauma, Ritual Abuse, Safety First, Trauma, Trauma Survivors

Easter Weekend: Sorting through the Layers Within

By Kathy Broady MSW 25 Comments

  Hello hello, It's the Easter weekend -- a complicated and conflictual weekend for most dissociative trauma survivors. So many layers of your inside levels will be awakened, aware, involved, wondering, waiting, going, sitting, thinking, watching, feeling, remembering, refusing, believing, fighting, crying, calling, hiding, etc. It's a time of being pulled in dozens of different directions all at once. Lots … [Read more...]

Filed Under: DID Education, DID/MPD, Dissociative Identity Disorder, emotional pain, Fear, Fun!, Internal Communication, mental health, Self Injury, Therapy Homework Ideas, Trauma Tagged With: beauty, Body Memories, caterpillars, Conflict, Darkness, DID / MPD, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Easter, Easter Weekend, Emotional Intensity, emotional pain, fighting inside, fighting the darkness, Finding caterpillars, finding the beauty, Gentle, Headaches, Healing, Healing Journey, Heartache, holiday weekend, it's ok to know, Kathy Broady, Kindness, Leaving the Darkness, Self Injury, Soothing, Trauma memories, you are allowed now

Wintertime – A Dark Night for Winter Solstice

By Kathy Broady MSW 17 Comments

  Well…. it’s December 21st in the northern hemisphere.  Making today the Winter Solstice. In the southern hemisphere, like in Australia, this is the Summer Solstice. I originally wrote this article when I lived in Dallas.   The weather in Dallas was nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit that day, making for a very warm day even though it is considered to be the official first day of winter.  It’s the Winter Solstice and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Anxiety, Depression, DID/MPD, emotional pain, Fear, Mind Control, Ritual Abuse, Trauma Tagged With: Compassion, Current-day Safety, Darkness, DID / MPD, DID Survivors, Dissociative Survivors, emotional pain, Empathy, Freedom, Full Moon, Healing from Ritual Abuse, Kathy Broady, Longest Night of the Year, Lunar Eclipse, Moon, Picturing Dissociative Identity Disorder, RA, Ritual Abuse, Ritually Abused, Sadness, Safety, Safety from Abuse, Safety from Perpetrators, Season Change, Shortest Day of the Year, Spiritually Abused, The Dark Day, Trauma Survivors, Winter Solstice

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About Me Here


Kathy - a clinical Social Worker, surrounded by kelpies, who enjoys puzzles, pianos, pizza, pretties in nature, and people with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

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