There are a lot of therapists who find it difficult to direct the treatment their clients are receiving. Often, this is because they do not want the clients to just automatically comply and as a result, lose the chance to experience their own inner sense of direction. But that approach does not typically work with [...]
Sometimes when people experience what feels like different personalities within themselves, they get scared. They immediately assume that they must be suffering from multiple personality disorder, or as it is referred to today, dissociative identity disorder. The fact is that this type of internal multiplicity is actually quite normal, and it is something that everyone [...]
The human mind is made up of a system of Parts, and when there are differences between the parts, the situation can often escalate into polarization. This is a concept that most people can easily understand because we have all found ourselves in it at one time or another. In the book, Introduction to the [...]
When children are raised in homes where they feel loved, soothed and cared for, their parents are actually helping to regulate their immature nervous system. As they grow, they learn to do this on their own, and they form the ability to handle many different emotions. But when a child is neglected or abused, their [...]
Today, we know so much more about trauma therapy and the proper way to provide it than we ever have before. For instance, it was once assumed that trauma victims would have the words they needed to explain the traumatic event they endured. They simply lacked the chance to express them. But research shown us [...]
Unfortunately, we as human beings have been taught to believe that our minds are unitary. Our culture has led us to believe that any derivation from a solitary mind is called mental illness. It is quite possible that a lot of people have been wrongly diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (also called dissociative identity disorder). [...]
In the last post, we talked more in depth about the Parts, their role, and learning to empathize and understand them. In this post, I want to go a little deeper to help this concept make as much sense as possible. Everyone has Parts; but people who have lived through traumatic events are often more [...]
Witnessing can be a very important part of trauma therapy for those who want to tell the stories of their traumatic events. But please know that it is not always necessary or helpful for trauma victims to tell their stories. Sometimes there are benefits, and being witnessed is one of them. The reality is that [...]
The key to effective trauma therapy is helping clients learn the difference between a trigger and being threatened in the here and now. In order for a trauma victim to be able to process how unsafe they were when the traumatic event occurred, they have to be able to understand that they are safe now. [...]
Healing from trauma the right way requires people to learn how to “see from the Self.” This can take some practice, and it can be very helpful to do some exercises as a way to train yourself. This might not be something that you are able to do right away. But in time, you may [...]