Some days just feel too hard. Those days feel like you just can’t make it through… Those are the days when you wish you could curl up in a ball, and sleep or stare all day long… Or hide away forever… Ever had a day like that? Ever felt like your problems were just toooooo big? Or tooooo never-ending? Or tooooo all-encompassing? Ever felt overwhelmed with hopelessness? Or … [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...]
Lists of 100 Reasons
This is an excellent journaling exercise that can be adapted to any topic at any time. The entirety of the exercise is to find a difficult or complicated topic. Ask yourself a question about that topic and then write out 100 responses to that question. For lots of people, one hundred sounds like a huge number for a writing exercise, but once you start thinking about the issue in smaller increments, you might be … [Read more...]
Developing Internal Communication – Starting with the Basics
There are a variety of ways to develop basic, effective skills in internal communication with your dissociative system. Most of these skills are very similar, even the same, as the communication skills used with real people in the everyday world. There is no fancy trick to learning to talk to your inside people. Everyone can do this. Remember, it's like talking to other people. Have you … [Read more...]
Overcoming Instability Issues and Unsuccessful Memory Work
Kerro commented: I have a question about stability. I accept that I need to be reliable, motivated, responsible and willing to delve into things I generally don't want to delve into. As for stability - I can see how a stable client is easier to work with for a therapist. However, what if the beginning stages of therapy have resurfaced old issues or retraumatised the client to the extent that … [Read more...]