Every single person on this planet has a Self, and they also have Parts. The issue with trauma victims is that their Parts have – for lack of a better term – taken them hostage. This is done in self-preservation, but it is not something that cannot be overcome by learning how to listen and [...]
Coping mechanisms are compulsions or habits formed over time which serve to help a person manage particular feelings or situations. While some are perfectly healthy, such as a shy person establishing a set routine before speaking in public to alleviate their nerves, others are dangerous and destructive. Sometimes, coping mechanisms are used to deal with [...]
Humans are remarkable creatures, and we all have basic survival demands that change as we move from infancy into childhood and then into adolescence and finally, into adulthood. When our natural defenses fail us, our brains and bodies are programmed to “play dead.” They may shut down, and when they do, we may go unconscious [...]
Most therapists have been taught that processing trauma is the goal of trauma therapy. That means that they feel the need to access the traumatic memories their clients have with the goal of working through them. But placing too much emphasis on the events that occurred which caused the traumatic memories is not helpful at [...]
In the past, any mention of other “personalities” or Parts immediately led to a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder (formerly called multi-personality disorder). But with continued research, it has been found that those Parts or personalities are actually quite vital. They are also present in every single person. Every human being has their own inner [...]
After they survive a traumatic event, many people spend years of their lives struggling because of Parts that are at war within them as a result. They may have: • Parts that are more childlike and afraid. • Parts that are more take-charge and protective. • Parts that are angrier and more combative. But something [...]
Most of us know how difficult it is to resist even the simplest of things. Whether it’s that extra cookie or checking your phone every two minutes, the more we try to stop ourselves from doing something, the more we think about it. Addiction is of course far more serious than eating too many cookies [...]
Anyone who has ever faced an addiction or who has supported a loved one through the difficult process, will be all too familiar with the fact that addiction is a selfish condition. We know that once addiction really takes hold, people find it incredibly difficult, if not impossible to abstain from the very behaviours they’re [...]
It is easy to think that the aftereffects of trauma are only experienced in the brain, but that is not exactly how it works. Quite often, those effects become evident physically as well. This is because as they begin to feel empathy toward their parts emotionally, their bodies feel it as well. These can actually [...]
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 [...]