Cheyenne Bowman, LCPC

Everyone experiences dissociation at some point in their life, to varying degrees. Dissociation is a complex and unique response that our brain has to trauma. If a client is coming to you with this as a presenting concern, their dissociative symptoms may be interfering with important areas of functioning. That does not mean, however, that dissociation is not a powerful coping skill that may have served them at some point in life. The more we can understand dissociation and what causes it, the better able we can spot it happening, work to ground ourselves, and even begin to use it as an intentional coping skill that we can control.

If you’re curious about whether dissociation has become a problem for you, ask yourself: Is it interfering with important areas of my life such as relationships, free time, or work? Is it disturbing or upsetting to me? If the answer is yes to any of these, consider seeking help from a mental health professional.

It is important...

By:  Lauren Rudolph, LPC

EMDRIA Consultant

As a therapist, I feel my journey continues to be finding out what I don’t know yet. Starting out in the field working with addictions, I realized, wow, there is a lot of trauma we are not treating. And, as I went on to become trained to treat trauma, I realized, wow, there is a lot of dissociation needing to be addressed. And, now that I have spent more time learning about complex trauma and dissociation, I’m noticing how pervasive these experiences are among the clients who we’re treating for mental health.

Let’s briefly review trauma. Trauma is the Greek word for “wound.” When we talk about psychological trauma, it can be a wound that is physical, psychological, or spiritual. Although the DSM 5 TR has criteria for defining what qualifies for a PTSD Diagnosis, trauma is a term that can encompass much more. Trauma used to be thought of as events such as natural disasters, near-death experiences, or...