On Dissociative Identity Disorder
It can be really difficult and scary to learn that you have parts, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Multiple Personality Disorder, ego states, etc.
Most often what I hear from clients when I share this diagnosis with them, is both fear and denial. They don’t want to know that this is going on because it feels so big and overwhelming.
They often feel that this makes them somehow more broken or damaged than they thought.
But my honest reaction, which I share with them, is that I stand in awe of their brain and how their brain has helped them to survive. It is truly amazing.
And if we do not honestly confront this as an issue, if we don’t address it in therapy and take it into consideration in our work, then we will not be helping them heal. To try to pretend this isn’t going on does more damage, and at best, provides just another patch or bandaid instead of a solution.
To heal this type of dissociation, we have to deal with this type of dissociation. But once we know what is going on, then we have a roadmap to healing.
It is understandable that clients don’t want to accept this diagnosis, but if that is what truly is going on with them, then this is the most direct way to help get them on the road to healing. It is actually a good thing to know.
