Traumatic experiences require an ability to disconnect from ourselves and from the overwhelm around us—to keep the horror at a distance and preserve some sense of OK-ness. Psychologically splitting off experiences of humiliation, abandonment, and violation helps children survive and adapt but backfires in later life when it results in long-term self-rejection, self-neglect, or even self-hatred. Understanding trauma-related fragmentation as a survival response is vital to the work of all therapists who work with victims of abuse, domestic violence, or even combat.
Join Trauma Expert Dr. Janina Fisher for Two Exclusive Free Webinar Trainings:
Healing the Fragmented Self after Trauma
Stabilizing the Unstable:
Working with Self-Destructive and Addictive Behaviors, Eating Disorders, and Suicidality
Suicidality, self-harm, and addictive behavior are all statistically linked to a history of trauma and are all associated with de-stabilizing internal conflicts: do I die or do I live? Do I drink or try to stay sober? Do I cut for instant relief or use my DBT skills to manage overwhelming emotions? Understanding these conflicts from a parts perspective increases stability. Anger, self-harm and suicidality work to ward off potential predators but also prevent vulnerability or dependence. Flight-driven parts mobilize addictive and eating disorders to help clients ‘flee’ from distressing emotions. The result is often a chronic pattern of crisis after crisis, relapse after relapse. To stabilize the unstable, we need ways to help clients relate differently to their self-destructive impulses and patterns.
Janina Fisher, PhD, is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Instructor at the Trauma Center, an outpatient clinic and research center founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known for her expertise as both a therapist and consultant, she is the author of the recently released Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors, and also past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, a faculty member of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of research and treatment and how to introduce these newer trauma treatment paradigms in traditional therapeutic approaches.
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