Primary Specialty

My approach to treating dissociation is informed by these theorists:

Philip Bromberg “Standing in the Spaces,   Elizabeth Howell “The Dissociative Mind”,  Bessel Van der Kolk,“The Body Keeps The Score”, and other contemporary writers who emphasize the effect of trauma on the mind. Some dissociative reactions might be a startled response, sleeping difficulties, flashbacks, irritability and anger that can easily be triggered, hypervigilance, numbness and detachment.  It’s important to know that trauma does not mean a singular event and the person suffering may have varied symptoms that come and go.  The ability to mask the pain is something they have learned long ago.

The goals in treatment are helping the person gain an improved awareness of the subtle shifts in their self states.  Often people just notice it as a mood that came on suddenly. This is where the interplay of the body and mind come into sharp focus.  Dissociation can limit the ability to hold and reflect on different states of mind.  A sense of not recognizing oneself in certain moods “that just came over me out of nowhere”.   Developing an attunement to even subtle shifts in the body are a significant part of the therapeutic process.