Posted by Pfinstegg on May 26, 2004, at 15:43:20
In reply to Re: Thanks Daisy and Aphrodite, posted by starlight on May 26, 2004, at 14:53:36
Asking one of your younger split-off selves what she wants is a GREAT thing to do. You may, and I do, find that her views are very different from your own grown-up views. For example, she may still feel that she has to fight against, or hide from abusers. She may also feel jealous if she feels YOU are getting more attention from your therapist than SHE is.
It has been shocking to me, really, to discover that I have these dissociated self-states, but it has also resulted in real progress in therapy, once I accepted it and learned how to work with it. And I agree with other posters who point out that dissociation is really the most *normal* and effective way for a person to deal with abuse, whether it involves neglect, emotional mistreatment, physical or sexual abuse. It's what makes it possible to keep going and build our adult lives.
PB is so fascinating- this board, especially, always seems to be growing and changing. It seems that it is just very recently that so many babblers have talked openly about dissociation- for example. Daisy's thread, above. It seems that more and more therapists are understanding it and working with it effectively. I feel so lucky to have a therapist who is very experienced with it; the one I went to prior to him, when my symptoms started to become severe, did not work that way at all, and wasn't helpful.
poster:Pfinstegg
thread:350498
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040522/msgs/350837.html