No, I'm not a multiple. I do not have multiple personalities. I do not have Dissociative Identity Disorder. But I know multiples very well. I am a trauma therapist who has worked almost exclusively with people with dissociative disorders. I met my first DID survivor 30 years ago. Since then, I have met more multiples than I can count, and I have spent hours and hours and hours each week -- and most … [Read more...]
Getting Back Those Lost, Missing Chunks of Time
Many dissociative trauma survivors have issues with time. Sometimes the past sneaks up into the present. Sometimes the present disappears. Sometimes there are two time zones (or more) occurring at the same time. Sometimes there are huge gaps in time. Sometimes time stands still. It can be confusing to say the least. Have you ever had a flashback from some year gone by overwhelm your current … [Read more...]
Working with Difficult and Destructive Alters
I'm going to take a slight detour in the internal communication series and write a little about working with difficult alters (aka insiders, inners, system parts, inside people, etc). It is crucial to work with these internal parts, no matter how challenging and hopeless things seem in the beginning. Your therapy and healing will never be resolved unless you approach the issues connected with these difficult … [Read more...]
Therapy for Dissociative Trauma Survivors
What is therapy? What is a therapist? What is the therapy process? And how can you tell if they’re any good? What is therapy? In my experience, therapy is about speaking the unspeakable. It’s the telling of things that you haven’t had the safety or the opportunity to tell before. It’s expressing your deepest feelings without have to edit or omit or pretend for the sake of someone … [Read more...]
50 Treatment Issues for Dissociative Identity Disorder
"I have DID. How long will it take for someone with Dissociative Identity Disorder to feel better?" As a clinical therapist, I hear that question frequently. It's a reasonable question. I certainly understand that when dissociative trauma survivors are deeply hurting and struggling in their life, they want to feel better as quickly as possible. However, the clinical treatment for someone with Dissociative … [Read more...]