"Dissociation Is Not A Dirty Word"
Dr. Jamie Marich

"If trauma is in the consultation room, dissociation is in the parking lot"
Amy Wagner

Dissociation, My Personal Journey
I am a survivor of Complex Trauma and it is my belief that throughout life the ability to dissociate helped me to survive some pretty unpleasant experiences. I believe dissociation is a brilliant default mechanism in the brain that allows us to go somewhere else while different "parts" of us step in to protect us. The photo above is a collection of dolls/stuffed animals that I put together as a fun, non-threatening visual to help clients identify various parts that exist within them. As it turns out - I discovered that the "stuffies" I acquired were a bit biased to reflect my own internal system of parts. 

There are several theories that attempt to describe dissociation and "parts" including: schema therapy, internal family systems therapy, structural dissociation, inner child, ego states and so forth. Some of these theories are described below. I suspect that each of these theories might have (like the photo above) started out as a theory that could apply to everyone but may more accurately reflect the internal systems of the folx that developed the theories. For this reason I have and will continue to study the various theories of dissociation and parts while also knowing that each person is a unique system. As such, adhering to one approach might further force clients to "retrofit" or cut off parts of themselves in order to fit the model ascribed by the therapist rather than the therapist learning from each client what their system looks like.

​For more information about the importance of learning about as many models as possible and not ascribing to any one of them in particular, I would like to suggest reading or listening to the book "Dissociation Made Simple" by Dr. Jamie Marich. I have also included many videos from contributors to the Dissociation Made Simple book below. If you watch them you will understand the importance of letting clients teach therapists about their system rather than enforcing a rigid model that may not resonate with each person. 

Movies & Television Shows About DID or "Parts"
Petals of a Rose (15 minute film about DID & parts - content warning - flashback of sexual abuse - not explicit - but I recommend watching the redacted version which is 30 seconds shorter): www.dylancrumpler.com/watch-petals-of-a-rose
Herman's Head: www.youtube.com/@hermansheadtvseries7254
Inside Out: youtu.be/yRUAzGQ3nSY?si=pg7wN4UnCK4yzfSC
Inside Out 2: youtu.be/G94EjAQRvdM?si=2DD_RnWLZ_-AqNOS 
The Glorias: youtu.be/fLD6m9moheY?si=C1kqLwxEaCXdGR1A
The Voices Inside My Head, Eleanor Longden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=syjEN3peCJw
Turning Red: youtu.be/XdKzUbAiswE?si=BzCvjdO3csaoiqQO

​Dissociation & Supportive Myth Busting Affirming Resources
​Parts Work & Parts Mapping

Dispelling Myths
Conscious Living with Nancy Napier
Ego-State Therapy:
Inner Child:
April Steele: april-steele.ca/product/developing-secure-self-therapeutic-toolkit/

Fraser's Dissociative Table: 
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Internal Family Systems Therapy: 
Jungian Archetypes
Schema Therapy
Soul Collage
Soul Collage & Seen Frost: soulcollage.com/
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Structural Dissociation
The Progressive Approach and Working with Hostile Voices with Dolores Mosquera
  • The progressive Approach: 
  • Training and Books: 












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