Inside Karen’s Crowded Mind

The ISSD is now known as the Internatonal Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. Their website indicates that there are educational programs for clinicians interested in learning more, including two distance learning modules. This may be the resource that can prvoide you with peers steeped in pragmatic experience as well as educational components that can support your indivdual growth

I am not a clinician, but I have,become a sophisticated user of therapeutic services. Look at the Internal family Systems model as a swift, easy to grasp way to help clients shape internal dialogue between previously dissociated parts. Information can be harvested via the website, selfleadership.org.

In my own work, EMDR, helps enormously in processing repressed affect. It is not a magic shortcut, but it is a substantive working tool.

In my own reading, I have dipped into Nathanson's work on affect, which translates Tompkins' understanding of innate affect into more accessible language . Author of some value are Kluft, Catherine Fine and Courteois. . And, I assume that you are familiar with the ISSD (international Society for the Study of Dissociation),.

do be aware that dissociative competencies come in a wide array of intensities. Some folks, indeed, have non-coconscious parts, others maintain (relative) awareness as we shift personae. The latter frankly, are far more challenging to diagnose, as we present with less externalized life chaos, and our shifting personae is likely to be rather more subtle. it was for that reason that my dissociative competencies escaped notice by a skilled psychotherapist, only to be sorted out as I worked with a skilled EMDR practicing trauma therapist. Not all of us have lives that can be play-acted by Sally Field......The real challenge in accepting a diagnosis of DID is a recognition that the abuse happened, that it was severe, and that it mattered. For that reason, I/we resisted the diagnosis even as we recognized that it "explained so much".

As I noted earlier, my therapeutic goal is not pure integration, as I am of the opinion that we all have a capacity for diverse personality, and seeking out a unitary personality strikes me as a bit of a chimera. What I have been able to do, with the help of a skilled therapist, is establish lines of commhncation based on internal self-respect, That allows me to be compassionate as we process profound memory and its associated affect, and then, quite critically for my adult life, look at the coping behaviors used in my youth, and replace them with behaviors that focus more on selfcare and self-respect.

I hope this helps......

Hey Choonzer: Once again, you'd better do some more research before you go on blindly treating your clients in a negative or dangerous manner.
Just as insulin can save the life of a diabetic, it is a proven fact that meds are extremely important for individuals suffering a huge array of (head) problems.
Are you aware that it is now common practice that the brain of a suicide individual is sent to forensic study to see what their levels of certain brain chemicals or lack thereof is present?
Chemistry, blood lines, brain injury and the least of which is invironmental causes brain disorders.
You still haven't answered one of the most compelling questions that most up to date and logical (medical) experts question.
How can someone suffer incredible and various kinds of abuse and suffering in a death camp and yet survive to live normal and fruitful lives (never) forgetting their abuses, but, in a positive manner putting such memories on the back burner and becoming (true) survivors? These incredible human beings simple know the answer "Life is a choice and anyone with a backbone and a half decent brain can choose not to wallow in mud."
The "abuse excuse" is still alive and well, and there will always be those who feed on the feeble minded.
When it comes to being a so called "Psychotherapist" my opinion is that anyone with very little education and not a schred of "medical" training can call themselves a Psychotherapist or a Counsellor and get way over their heads which could and has produced irreparable damage.
I will be overjoyed when the last nail into the coffin of Psychotherapy has landed so people will choose to become stronger and get on with the business of living and living fruitfully! If they have serious mental problems, then let the really good mental health experts intervene with not only talk treatment, in a forward motion and the availability of the right meds they might desperately require.
Has is ever occured to you that some who go for quack therapy, simply get bored, seem to be cured or better yet are just moving on?????????? Therapy was never meant to hurt or be long term!!!!!!!
Respecfully: Claudette

The article in question, I note, rather studiously avoids a balanced exploration of the research that is out there on the complexities of displaced memories. Moreover, some of the clincial work referenced, such as that by Loftus, is questionable in its research protocols, the conflicting nature of her own findings, and thelimited size of her research pools. I note that Loftus, who seems now to make her living as an "expert witness' has had her "findings" successfully refuted in court, rather consistently in the most recent of "her" cases.

While this is an admittedly challenging area to study, articles like that In SA Brain, confound the process of true dialogue by being utterly selective in their review of literature, frankly. I will concur that memory can be, in some suggestible folks, manipulated or created. However, the vast majority of skilled trauma therapists strive, rather for the opposite - to be meticulous in allowing the client to surface the material in a natural fashion. that eschews suggestion, hypnosis, "truth drugs' and all that crap. I woudl suggest that those forms of skewed intervention are far far less than such naieve articles proport. I would suggest that you do as you advocate, and conduct a serious review of the literature out there. Read Terr, explore the clinical findings of Kluft, of Fine, of Courtois, of Putnam... and then reread tacky articles published in a magazine that is the scientific equivalent of People mag.....

There are, sadly, some therapists out there who focus on techniques that can alter internalized memories. However, I would note that the concept of "false memory syndrome" is the creation of, not clinicians, but folks who had a daughter who noted that she was sexually abused as a child....that daughter is now a well-known clinician, I note, while the parents, who flash their doctoral degrees as part of their foundation, are both educated in fields far, far from psychology . I would suggest that a foundation that had to invite one of its founding board members to leave following his rather public support of NAMBLA suggests where their real "heart" lives...... Their foundatiion is notable for the lack of functional research it sponsors, and has essentially become a promotional arm for a specific rather narrow concern. Furthermore, it has become a crying post for parents whose children no longer choose to associate with them.

if you bother to explore the considered work of others, you might choose to explore Terr's substantive work on the subject, which notes that "created memory" tends to, in the reprocessing of the memory, lack profound affect, probably because the individual is recounting a story, not a memory. Displaced memory, when it emerges, characteristically flushses forward with profound affect.

While incompetent therapists abound, I would suggest that creating true dissociative identity where none existed suggests a personality rife with other issues, including a high level of suggestibility and suggests a therapist that is not incompetent, but malignant, a far more difficult circumstance to locate.... Your presumption of the "high probability" of clinical creation of DID and of SRA memories is naieve at best and must, I suspect, reflect some compelling desire to avoid a topic of substantive pain.

Trust me, I have far better things to do with my spare time than invent memories of childhood torture, and I have far better ways that I might like to spend discretionary income rather than on the kind of skilled therapy of a length and duration that insurers will simply not cover.

my therapist and I are "overlaying the "internal family systems" model on top of my "classic" presenting DID. that model normalizes dissociation, and establishes a basis for dialogue between the core self and the various parts in distress. It has been a profound model for me, I note. Schwart's model is getting some traction in clinical trauma circles as it provides an empowerment for the client to self-dialogue in ways that focus on conflict resolution. And, after all, it is the conflict that is the issue, not the number of parts that happen to be up.

I am sure your sincerity and focus will be invaluable with your client.

Very true that I cannot know the depth of your pain. However, I wish for you that you could accept concern instead of having to challenge back. I don't think your strength is in your anger but in the wisdom and discovery of truth that few actually discover because they have not walked or been drug through the path you have had to endure. And I believe some of us would listen more closely to your perspective if you didn't have to attack. Even though every one of us is limited to our experience and current understanding, it seems to me that most on this site are eager to learn. Instead of just attacking our current efforts, what can you share that has been helpful?

Exploring spirituality as part of one's life is one thing. I do react strongly to simplistic theologic solutions, frankly, and folks who reference being "washed in the blood of the lamb", as the one poster did, clearly have no understanding of the literal content of that language. That kind of theologic obtuseness annoys the heck out of me, as it betrays a signal lack of understanding of their own words! For me, finding a spiritual path is intensely personal and required great internal patience as I work with my inner community. I can, and do, accept the value of a spiritual journey. I don't accept pat answers of instantaenous "salvation" as being the ideal solution for processing deeply repressed affect related to diabolic abuse. So, no, your posts do not upset me, as they indicate an awareness of a personal journey, not a blanket assumption of effectiveness of a singular simplistic theologic solution.

Enter Your Comment No. Hypnosis has value in selected components of therapy. Howwever, no self-respecting trauma therapist would rely on hypnosis to flush out memory content. And, as for haloween costumes, I suggest you go as yourself - a crashing boor

Um, given the blood I was washed in in bizarre ritualized rites as part of my sexual abuse, I'll take the expensive therapists, thank you very much! In fact, much of the language you speak to in your posting speaks to the utterly pagan, ritualized nature of some aspects of the some organzed religions...... that can serve as a devolved base for cultish behaviors. For those who were abused in ritualized or cult like settings, yoru pat answer of personal salvation betrays an amaazing capacity for signal lack of understanding.

Enter Your Comment The difference lies in the age of the semantics. Multiple Personality Disorder was the favored term until about ten or twelve years ago, when it was repaced with Dissociative identity Disorder as a slightly less charged, more cogent clinical definition.

LOL, What, you want us to do your homework for you? Keep reading ....and grow into yourself ...