Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Social Worker, BBA, MDiv, MSW, CMAT, CSAT
In the face of traumatic experiences, we dissociate in order to cope with those experiences. Healing your dissociations involves healing your trauma and restoring you to your full personhood free from the memory fragments, compartmentalization and physical tension that you experience.
Reach out today to get the care that you deserve.
Registered Psychotherapist, HBEd, MA (Hons.), Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Who does not want to escape reality at times? Dissociative disorders are mental disorders that involve experiencing a disconnection and lack of continuity between thoughts, memories, surroundings, actions and identity. People with dissociative disorders escape reality in unhealthy and involuntary ways as a means to deal with intrusive and often traumatic thoughts and memories.
Navigating dissociative disorders can be confusing and isolating. With extensive experience in this field, I offer a safe, understanding environment where we can explore your experiences and work towards greater integration and stability. My approach is gentle and personalized, ensuring you feel supported every step of the way.
Registered Social Worker, Registered Social Worker, MSW, RSW
Dissociative disorders manifest a profound interplay between the psyche's protective mechanisms and the echoes of past trauma. A person's sense of self can be shattered, resulting in a loss of identity and reality. This can be caused by events such as severe trauma, caregiver relationship problems, and early attachment experiences. Like a fragmented mosaic, dissociative symptoms manifest as a coping mechanism, shielding individuals from the unbearable weight of their past experiences. Therapy offers a sacred space for exploration and integration, gently guiding individuals through the labyrinth of dissociation to reclaim their sense of wholeness and connection. By fostering secure attachments and processing traumatic memories, individuals can mend the fractures of their psyche, forging a path towards healing and self-discovery.
Dissociation is an incredible tool that our body and minds have learned to utilize in extremely distressing situations. A coping strategy that was helpful once, often may not be in 10, 20, 30 etc years. Unfortunately, coping strategies don't develop in the linear ways that human beings are expected too. Despite the traumatic events that may have caused dissociation, humans do have more access and resources available to them in adulthood. These extra resources can mean learning and implementing more helpful strategies that align with who you are present day. It is my greatest honor to work with humans with these magnificent coping strategies. While we learn new strategies, we will work to integrate the fragmented parts into the whole being that you are.
If you are experiencing symptoms of dissociation such as spaciness, depersonalization, derealization, disconnection from the body, ghost sensations or feelings in your body that don't have an organic cause, or noticing the inner fragmentation of parts of Self, then know that there is help and this can be worked on. Dissociation is essentially a defense mechanism that gets activated for you to be able to get away from distressing situations or feelings internally, when you can't do so externally. I specialize in dissociative disorders and you can email me for a free 30-minute phone consultation to discuss more.