What does dissociate mean in therapy?

Dissociation is a disconnection between a person’s memories, feelings, behaviors, perceptions, and/or sense of self. 1 This disconnection is automatic and completely out of the person’s control.

Is it normal to dissociate in therapy?

Dissociation is very common in clients who have suffered from trauma, and can be seen as an extremely successful survival strategy used by somebody who has been through a traumatic event.

What does a person look like when they dissociate?

When a person experiences dissociation, it may look like: Daydreaming, spacing out, or eyes glazed over. Acting different, or using a different tone of voice or different gestures. Suddenly switching between emotions or reactions to an event, such as appearing frightened and timid, then becoming bombastic and violent.

Is dissociation a bad thing?

Dissociation may be a normal phenomenon, but like everything in life, all in moderation. For some, dissociation becomes the main coping mechanism they use to deal with the effects of a trauma response in anxiety disorders, such as PTSD, or other disorders, such as depression.

What happens to the brain during dissociation?

Dissociation involves disruptions of usually integrated functions of consciousness, perception, memory, identity, and affect (e.g., depersonalization, derealization, numbing, amnesia, and analgesia).

Can you heal dissociation?

Dissociation may persist because it is a way of not having negative feelings in the moment, but it is never a cure. Too much dissociating can slow or prevent recovery from the impact of trauma or PTSD.

Is dissociation a mental illness?

If you dissociate you might have symptoms such as not feeling connected to your own body or developing different identities. Dissociative disorder is a mental illness that affects the way you think. You may have the symptoms of dissociation, without having a dissociative disorder.

Does your therapist specialize in dissociative identity disorder?

My therapist does not specialize in dissociative identity disorder; however, we communicate well, I feel heard, and I believe he has my best interests at heart. While he does not possess every single one of these qualities, he does practice many of them and still maintains his effectiveness as a good therapist.

How do I know if my client has dissociative disorder?

There are dissociative tests and scales you can have client’s take to see if they have a dissociative disorder. The scales aren’t used to make a definitive diagnosis but they can help, along with a professionals observations and the clients history. The longest dissociative disorder scale is 250 questions and the shortest is 28.

What is Pat Ogden’s book on dissociative disorders?

Pat Ogden’s book also suggests quite a few physical techniques used to ground client’s. The book changed the way my therapist conducts sessions on many different levels. There are dissociative tests and scales you can have client’s take to see if they have a dissociative disorder.

How many questions are on the Dissociative Disorder Scale?

The longest dissociative disorder scale is 250 questions and the shortest is 28. The longer tests can be triggering for some clients, so an experienced professional is needed to administer the test so that a client can stay present enough to complete the test.