Multiple Voices

Life Beyond Trauma Conference October 09

I have been asked by the conference organisers to post the information about this amazing conference on my blog. The conference takes place in October 2009 in Dallas, Texas. It sounds like a great opportunity for professionals, survivors, and Multiples alike to network, get ideas, and get help for the next 'leg' of your recovery! Here it goes: (I have copied the text from their website Life Beyond) check it out if you want to know more.

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How Can You Get Over Childhood Stress?

I have been asked how people get over childhood stress. In my mind it is a question of recovering from whatever stressors have been present in people's lives. Because it's a generic question and not specifically aimed at DID, I posted it on my therapy blog. It's the first article in a series of two that explains the physiological processes involved in being affected by childhood stresses such as abuse, neglect, or other forms of trauma. If this topic interests you, pop over and read on ....

Making Wise Decisions

Making a good decision is often experienced as being very difficult for abuse survivors. Too much of the traumatic past intrudes into the 'here and now' situation and colours one's judgement. Danger is felt in situations that are now perfectly safe. Yet it appears very hard not to react to those 'danger signals'. Decisions are often made on the basis of THEN and don't take into account that NOW is different. Now you are not a helpless child anymore, now you have a brain that can link cause and effect much clearer, now you have access to support.

Crisis in DID Treatment

Loneliness and the sense of isolation is a pervasive theme DID clients struggle with during all stages of recovery. When reaching out for therapy it refers to feeling alone, being scared of people, and being surrounded by a lack of understanding. Other people may even be perceived as toxic and dangerous.

I thought if I don’t say anything, if I don’t allow myself to interact with people and be with people, then I am not going to get hurt again (Carol 2/1)

Traumaprocessing

No aspect of one's recovery journey is easy, whether it is the recovery from mental illness, from trauma in general, or from dissociative identity disorder (DID). 'Coming Together', the second stage in the recovery from DID, is no different. The coming together of the different parts of one's personality will come about when the reasons for having to dissociate in the first place are dealt with.

False memories created by therapists?

A therapy long used to dredge up painful and buried memories might itself traumatize patients and require more treatment to deal with the consequences, write psychology professors Scott O. Lilienfeld and Kelly Lambert in Scientific American Mind. Recovered-memory therapy has come under increasing fire over the past decade and is being used less and less.

The above Wall Street Journal blog has generated a heated discussion around therapists creating dissociative identity disorder (DID) and false memories in their clients. The comments made by readers (including Richard Kluft and other respected and well known therapists) are well worth exploring. They offer a rich source of arguments, research results, and other relevant facts. Use this link When The Psychiatric Cure is the Disease to read the original article and the comments - including mine.

It is clear, the debate whether DID is real or a construction of incompetent therapists is alive and kicking. We sure will hear more about this topic. What is your opinion? I would like to know - so, be brave and comment!