The Mystery of Dissociation: Understanding Its Role in Trauma and Healing

Coming to understand the function of dissociation has been the basis for the development of this work. Dissociation is the process someone uses to cut themselves off from overwhelming external experiences and later from overwhelming feelings within themselves. Through working with people with highly dissociative mechanisms and noticing that the more extreme the trauma, the more extreme the need to keep things in air-tight compartments and dissociate from the trauma to survive it. When someone is being extremely traumatised, they find ways, usually automatically, to cut off from the actuality and feelings involved with the experience.

Later, when the coast is clear often much later in life, the disturbing signals will emerge in the form of feelings or actualities that don’t seem to match their present moment reality e.g. they have impulses to hurt their children. With the help of the specific processes in HIC they can follow that signal back to the original experience of having been hurt as a child and have the opportunity to bring healing where none has been possible before. This does not ‘cure’ them, it simply allows them to deal with their dissociative mechanisms with understanding and compassion each time they arise.