Early in DID therapy, it is standard practice to attempt mapping the internal system of parts in some way. We try to learn who is who and how these parts relate to each other. We might learn useful things, like the action systems parts operate in or develop names for parts to make communication easier. […]
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The therapeutic use of Confusion with DID parts
Sometimes parts are 100% certain of something and they are wrong. They are stuck in memories of a past that is not happening anymore or they stick to old rules that don’t apply anymore. Their undeniably real experiences formed convictions in them that persist even though life has changed. Sometimes re-experiencing creates a loop […]
Holders, Storytellers and Agents in DID
Over the years, I have come across a number of different ways to see and understand parts. None of these are absolute truths. They just offer a framework that makes it easier to understand a certain aspect of parts and it helps with overcoming challenges. Depending on the situation, one framework might be more useful […]
Epiphany #13: The Future
‘A man without a vision is a man without a future. And a man without a future will always return to the past.‘ This is a quote that has been going around in my social circles for years. The neurobiology of trauma tells a different story: Having no experience of a present means having […]
High risk behavior and coherence
The concept that problems can happen ‘because of the nervous system‘ is getting a bit overused these days by people who barely know what that even means. That should not distract us from the fact that chronic trauma does change the brain and it is important to know that when we face specific problems. […]
Specific beliefs in parts: everything will fall apart
While typical cognitive errors might play a role in DID treatment, there are other mistakes in our reasoning, and problematic beliefs that are at the core of our trouble. In this small series we are exploring specific beliefs in parts and how to work with them. Falling apart This belief is most often found […]
Epiphany #12: Ubi es?
On the hunt for the elusive ‘felt sense of safety’ we might notice that we can only feel safe within the space we are actually in. Our consciousness is a wanderer. It wanders through thoughts emotions the body memories the space we are in an inner world When it is in one […]
Specific beliefs in parts: The need for punishment
Every CBT-heavy book on DID will list cognitive errors (e.g. black&white thinking, generalizations, catastrophic thinking etc) when it comes to problematic thoughts and beliefs in DID. I don’t think that these cognitive errors are much more common in DID than they are in other mental health issues. But there are specific beliefs that are […]
The Role of Grief in Integration
Grief is a normal response to loss and change. It comes with sadness, sorrow and an inner ache that can be felt with our whole being. Crying is normal and common behavior when grieving, and it can also look very different. While grief is not a comfortable feeling to have, it shows us that […]
Personality in Motion
When trauma has become chronic and our stress responses become the mode of normal functioning in the world, we will notice an impact on our personality. The way we see ourselves and the world and how we act within the world are guided by defensive actions. We might develop patterns of behavior that are based […]
Psychological Safety in a DID System
Psychological safety is a term that we will borrow from organizational psychology to look at inner dynamics within a DID system. Psychological safety is described as a shared culture within a group that makes it safe to speak up, express needs, ideas or doubt, take risks, make mistakes, and learn from failure. Tools that are […]
Recovering from bad therapy
With DID, it is not rare at all to experience bad therapy. There are a multitude of reasons why therapists fail us and not being properly trained is just the most common one. Returning to the tasks of therapy with someone else will be exponentially more difficult after we got hurt. When we first started […]
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