Last night I lost my keys in the office. It was a silly ordeal – they were hanging right where I last put them – but it took me awhile to remember where that was. I had a little help finding them, and I am really thankful that Mr. Janitor Man was so very kind. He was patient with me, looking everywhere with me while I retraced my steps of the evening. We looked under couches, in between cushions, under … [Read more...]
Not Getting to Be Your True Self – But Whose Life is it Anyway?
Do you get to be your real self? I’ve been wondering what else I could teach about Dissociative Identity Disorder, using an episode of United States of Tara as the example. Then I remembered the last minute of a show about Buck and his emotional pain. And I thought more of how very painful and how very real that heartbreak is for Buck. Throughout this season two, Tara has struggled with the fact … [Read more...]
Seeing Multiplicity – Keaton Style
Multiplicity, the 1996 movie with Michael Keaton, is not specifically about Dissociative Identity Disorder – it is technically about being cloned -- but it is a funny, light-hearted comedy that absolutely pertains to DID / MPD. Have you watched this show? Keaton’s character has a lot in common with DID. As you watch the movie, you can see the following similarities happen in this … [Read more...]
Using Collage as a Way of Communicating
Creating a collage is another way of allowing your internal system parts to tell more about themselves. Pictures can be a powerful way of communicating. And a collage - a collection of pictures - can tell a lifetime of stories. Most trauma survivors were repeatedly told by their abusers, "Do not tell". Violence, threats, abuse, and pain often accompanied these rules. How many times did you hear "don't say … [Read more...]
Integration: A Requirement for DID Therapy – Or Not?
I am well aware that many trauma therapists are highly supportive of the treatment goal to integrate dissociative selves. I have a different approach to this topic. Please understand I am not at all opposed to the idea of integration if that is what the person wants. However, that is a very complicated topic, and I'll discuss the integration issue from that perspective at another time. In my experience, by … [Read more...]