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Diagnosed with Complex Trauma and a Dissociative Disorder, Emma and her system share what they learn along the way about complex trauma, dissociation (CPTSD, OSDD, DID, Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality), etc.), and mental health. Educational, supportive, inclusive, and inspiring, System Speak documents her healing journey through the best and worst of life in recovery through insights, conversations, and collaborations.
Over:
Speaker 2:Welcome to the System Speak Podcast, a podcast about Dissociative Identity Disorder. If you are new to the podcast, we recommend starting at the beginning episodes and listen in order to hear our story and what we have learned through this endeavor. Current episodes may be more applicable to long time listeners and are likely to contain more advanced topics, emotional or other triggering content, and or reference earlier episodes that provide more context to what we are currently learning and experiencing. As always, please care for yourself during and after listening to the podcast. Thank you.
Speaker 1:We have emails. Multimiz says, I just listened then had to stop listening to your podcast as you're talking with your college friend about what happened to you both. Therapy has minimally taught me to pay attention to our body and its responses. And man, let me tell you, my heart is beating more and it felt like we were sucker punched. When you started talking about authority and your relationship with those societal structures that have authority, it sent a systemic chain reaction to our body's core.
Speaker 1:For us, navigating relationships with those who have some type of assigned or imagined authority over us sends us across red flags that authority can't be trusted. As you can imagine, it sets up a lifetime of isolation and difficulties trying to manage those feelings even towards those who we ourselves have assigned authority. It affects so many things: work relationships, intimate relationships, healthcare relationships, and even friendships. Trying to recognize the past life experiences and how they became today's life experiences is a very tedious thing. Every part of us has this we are better off to do things alone.
Speaker 1:We don't need anyone kind of feeling. We systemically need to relearn how to change those types of yesteryear. It has been such a struggle. However, we are learning that maybe people who we have felt that real or imagined authority over us can be let in a little, a little at a time, and maybe trusted a little at a time. I do know that I've had some wonderful bosses going through my work career who are patient and try to be as understanding even when we don't talk about it openly or request accommodations.
Speaker 1:The process of trust building is so incredibly slow and fragile, especially when you look at life through this people can't be trusted lens. I am always learning and always challenging us to try. It's worth the rewards that we have found in friendship. How incredibly healing is this? Oh, I'm so glad.
Speaker 1:That's really big stuff right there. This email says, I really liked that line in the episode where it said, ritual abuse is abuse of those things that are powerful, and rituals themselves are important and necessary for healing. I'll be sitting on that for a long while. Oh, that's pretty intense. That was pretty that's pretty intense.
Speaker 1:That's a Susan B. Spannock quote. Sydney says, I want to thank you for all of your hard work you put into the podcast and the information you give to your listeners. My therapist recommended System Speak to Me and it has been very helpful. I have been diagnosed with DID for five years now and I still struggle to not always hide or reject my parts.
Speaker 1:Your podcast is helping me realize that I can still have my idea of a functional life and still have DID. Thank you again. Oh my goodness, that's such a big deal and such good timing for me to read this because I really feel like coming home from Seattle was such a fresh start for us, such a new beginning because we had so many huge pieces hanging over us for years and years that we have just let go of. And speaking of rituals, that bookend of coming to Seattle and finishing all those tasks and wrapping up and closure and all of that from two years ago in San Francisco before the pandemic, What a beautiful ritual is that? Like an example of a good ritual to come here to this conference, do all the conference things, the awards, everything, and to get back on the plane and head home with all of those chapters closed behind us and really focused and ready for new beginnings, it's such a big deal.
Speaker 1:And part of that includes going back to a place of acceptance of our parts. I think we had such a battle within in response to the trauma we endured recently as opposed to just childhood trauma that there has been a lot of struggling and it's been hard to get on the same page because of that. But as we have worked through that and with this bookend and the closure and this new beginning, there is something to be said about what Sydney is sharing here and accepting that all of our parts are not just there, but that they all have unique experiences and unique perspectives of those same experiences, even when they're shared experiences. And that all of it can be true, all of it can be real, and all of it can be learned from and tended to and healed. That's pretty powerful.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Sydney. Erica says, I support and love someone with DID. I became familiar with the podcast you do through my spouse. I am also aware that you have created an awesome community where my spouse is able to speak about their DID with others that are going through similar things. I think this kind of support for them has been extremely important.
Speaker 1:I'm glad they have a place where explanation isn't necessary and shorthand among others exists. It's helped normalize some things for them and given them a platform to ask questions and in turn give advice and be there for others too. Oh, that's so fantastic. I'm so glad. I'm writing because I attended the recent webinar, which oh, the DID awareness day webinar, I think they mean.
Speaker 1:It focused somewhat on support people. This webinar was very helpful for me, and it was comforting to hear things from the husband that resonated and I could relate to. Your podcast has also been helpful for me to understand more and has been a part of why my spouse and I have been able to speak so openly about their DID. I wanted to ask you if you know of any support groups or communities for those that support those with DID. If not, I was wondering if a community somewhat like the one you've created could be possible for those support people.
Speaker 1:Please let me know your thoughts, and thank you for taking the time to read this. Sure. No problem. That is actually entirely possible. And we keep trying to get that group started, but people who I need more than one person to be there for the group.
Speaker 1:And every time I almost have enough people to start the group, then people stop coming and don't respond. And so it's just been hard to get it started, and I know it's difficult when you're waiting and waiting for support. Bet we are working on opening that. So if you will message me in the community, I can add you to the list and we'll try and get you started. It was such a good question.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Barbara says, I'm in a relationship with someone unaware of his DID. I am just needing guidance. Well, see, you need to go to the group that they were just asking that Erica was just asking about. So get on the community and message me there, and we will be able to get this group started.
Speaker 1:If we've got we've got four people there waiting, we've got you two, that's definitely enough even to get a small group started, and we can let it grow from there. Thanks for writing in. This person says, I just listened to the episode bits of pieces. This episode takes the cake. First of all, I'm so sorry that you kept having technical difficulties.
Speaker 1:Oh, this is the episode when we lost the Bethany Brand interview. It was such a tragedy. Oh, that was not your bad at all. I was really sad when I heard you say the part about how deaf people maybe shouldn't be doing podcasts. Nope.
Speaker 1:Untrue. You deserve to do a podcast if you want to no matter what, deaf or not. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. The way you pieced the last episodes together and tied it into how it feels like living with DID was genius, absolutely genius.
Speaker 1:It was so spot on. This weekend, I was hanging out with friends and I totally blacked out during an entire conversation. I knew I was blacking out in terms of hearing, but I was still driving a car. So I knew I was there, but my friend texted me this morning and asked if they had been a jerk when we hung out. They absolutely had not.
Speaker 1:It was Trixie trying to explain that sometimes my brain sort of short circuits at times and it had nothing to do with them at all, but maybe had to do with the content of what was being talked about. I also wanted to share that the timing of listening to this episode was crucial for us. I've been feeling really upset with myself for getting wrapped up in the abuse triangle, but what was said in this episode gives me something tangible to take to therapy so we can discuss it further. And I can make sure that I really am safe, that we are safe, and then how to do our best to refrain from getting tangled up in the muck again. We appreciate you, the whole lot of you.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, thank you. That's so kind and I'm so glad it's helpful. Staying out of those triangles is really, really hard. It's true. And I know that we're all continuing to practice that, but I think one thing that we've really experienced is how beautiful it is when we do have those healthy friendships and relationships and being able to repair them.
Speaker 1:Like the example of your friend following up by text and you all having a conversation about what happened and how you felt about it, what you were thinking and feeling and repairing that and tending to it, that is beautiful. That is exactly how to keep things healthy, and I think that's fantastic, really well done. Someone else wrote, I am having all the feels about the religious trauma episodes. I don't have the same story or content, but I do have this huge unmined well of religious trauma, especially from college, very similar to what you experienced, but also very different. I want to honor that you putting your story out doesn't mean you have spoons to talk about people's stories.
Speaker 1:So just saying I can relate to pieces of control, brainwashing, and what I now think is a sort of psychological abuse in this systemic way with this hyper conservative kind of campus ministry cult that I was totally lost in back then. I had a unique privilege that you and your friend didn't and that my group of friends who sound a lot like your group of friends actually also being developmentally delayed and how that hit home. In the end, we all sort of became exvangelical together eventually, and we could talk about cult deprogramming together, but I was the first who left and really was not okay being alone for the year after college because of all the programming and control that made me a more vulnerable target and then played into shame messages that I internalized when experiencing a lot of adult sexual trauma that year. It's all really mixed up together, and I'm pretty sure that's a season where I split and became host because I was literally a different person back then. So I think there's a lot here.
Speaker 1:I am glad that is making sense to other people, and I hear you and I feel you hearing me, but it is still so raw. I don't even know what to say yet. But I think working through that is huge and going to be difficult. But I also feel like we are in safe hands to do so and that we will keep sharing in appropriate ways as we continue through therapy. But that's really all I can say about it right now because it's so, so intense and the religious trauma piece it's gonna be brutal.
Speaker 1:We also have some messages to share from the community. These are System Speak fans group messages that were posted specifically with the topic to be shared on the podcast so we have permission to share these. The first one is in response to when I shared the news that we were coming back live to system speak. Deb said, this news makes me so happy. I only found you a few months ago and I've been dosing my episodes out like medicine for fear of running out.
Speaker 1:So now that I finally found the forum and news are starting to phase two, I can relax and binge a bit. Oh, I'm so glad that makes so much sense. And I do the same thing. When I'm almost out of something, I just stop using it altogether because somehow having it and not using it is better than running out and not having it. And I don't know why because either way, we're not using it.
Speaker 1:So I even do that with, like, food. So, like, if we have eight oranges and the husband doesn't eat one and the rest of us all have one for breakfast because he's gone, I mean. And so the rest of us have one for breakfast, so we use seven oranges. Right? And now there's just one orange left.
Speaker 1:Like, I will not eat that orange because it's better to have an orange than to not have an orange. But that's not even true. What's better is to have that nutrition in my belly or this podcast in your soul. And so I'm glad that you have what you need and that being back on the air is being helpful for you, and welcome. So glad you have found us.
Speaker 1:Unpretending shared about the episode roomies. What a delight it was to be in the room as the two of you reunited. I noticed a smile on this face here as you both experienced the joy of remembering the fun you had. I loved one minute we were playing in tents on the floor and the next you were tutoring me. Even in remembrance of the hard stuff, it seemed like a time of healing for both of you.
Speaker 1:I'm so happy you found each other again. Thank you again for sharing your journey with the world. Oh, thank you so much. It was pretty special. Holly responded to this and said, it warmed my heart to hear the two of you reconnect.
Speaker 1:She sounds like a really special friend. I hope it will be healing for both of you to have this connection and affirmation of the reality of the unbelievable, but of course, we believe you, situation you have endured at that college. It really makes me angry listening to what they did to you, to her, and to others, and I'm very concerned that the school most probably still exists as does the abuse. I am proud of how far you have come to be able to talk about these dark times from your past. On a lighter note, I have created a really fun image of Emma Sunshaw serving customers at Subway.
Speaker 1:That was Cassie. I don't know if Cassie's even whatever happened to Cassie? Oh my goodness. We have so much to talk about there. I can't even open that boat today.
Speaker 1:Wait. You don't open a boat. What do you open? You oh, worms. You open the worm.
Speaker 1:No. You don't open worms. Ugh. Can. You open the can of the boats.
Speaker 1:No. The can the the boat of can. No. So close. She said, and fun to know that you are a grandma.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness. That's so funny. I forgot we talked about that. It's true. We're a total grandma.
Speaker 1:It's pretty cool to be a grandma. But when you're a grandma, they're supposed to go home, and we still have six kids at home, and that's not cool. Dandelion System said, transcribing episode number 96, being okay, and I wanted to share a few things because I can't even. Quote, all of us inside and other systems, all of us together is how we break the silence, is how we say no more, is how we say you did not win, is how we say everything is okay now even when life is still hard, end quote. Wow, did we say that?
Speaker 1:I'm glad you shared that dandelions because we needed those reminders. Another quote, and maybe there's power in that, in good ways that not only empower our own systems, but each other as we work together and support each other. Maybe that's what makes a family. Maybe family doesn't have to be who you're born into. Maybe family is who you choose and who you become and who you create in the world around you and to make the world a better place.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's really beautiful. Another quote. Maybe when they say everything's going to be okay, it doesn't mean that life is never going to be hard again. Maybe it means we're going to make everything okay no matter what happens to us because we're a people, a community who don't give up. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Go us. Dandelion said, I don't know if others needed to hear that level of empowerment, but I sure did. I hope it strikes a chord with you all as it did for us. Oh, thank you for that encouragement. We all needed that.
Speaker 1:Seriously. And then in one of the group podcasts, I can't remember. I think it was a movie one, but I'm not sure. So I don't remember if it was turning red or Encanto or a different group. But one group that we did on the podcast, we said something about gossip travels faster than deaf people.
Speaker 1:And I wrote that I wanted to clarify because I got a lot of emails about this, something about dead people. I didn't say dead people. I said deaf people like me. And that is a cultural joke because when deaf people are in the room talking, even if it's across the room, you can still see what they are saying. So in a room full of deaf people, there is no privacy.
Speaker 1:Everyone knows what everyone is saying because it's literally out there for everyone to see. So I was just explaining that comment that I had made during the group, and I wanted to share it again in case there were people in case there were other listeners who had missed that. Dead people. I see deaf people. Unpretending shared.
Speaker 1:I would like to share something amazing that has happened because of group. Literally amazing. All year, like since Christmas or something, we, this system here, has been incredibly stuck about housework, avoidant city. Oh my goodness, you all. That needs to be one of the T shirts.
Speaker 1:So if you don't know, we are selling merch on the website to raise money to send people books. And people are loving the merch, and it's flying out faster than we can get it in there. There's mugs. There's T shirts. There's stuffies.
Speaker 1:There's blankets. There's all kinds of cool stuff, but I feel like avoidance city needs to be one of the shirts. So I'm on it. I'm gonna make you a shirt that says avoidant city. Anyway, they said, today, after group, some of our system have been able to do a heap of work in the house.
Speaker 1:Something has shifted. I'm not saying we couldn't do housework because of something here in the community that made us stuck, But something about today made us unstuck. The amazing sharing with one another and how group unfolded today and the caring that we offer each other, there's more than that, but there's no words in any language, just the doing relationships. Whatever it was, we are unstuck and functioning again. Thank you, all of you.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so tender. Thank you. I'm so glad you shared that. Kate shared the big idea podcast episode. So happy for you and your family.
Speaker 1:I hope that the after school program is still going well. And yes, hopefully some in person meetups will happen sometime in the future. I'm so excited to report back on this because the after school program is going really well. And so that's super helpful, but also we have met so many people from the community already. We did a meetup outside of Tulsa.
Speaker 1:We did a meetup in on the highway not on the highway, but just off an exit in Oklahoma because it was literally halfway, and we met Maltese there. And we have met up with a whole bunch of people in Seattle who knew that Seattle or the surrounding area had so many amazing community members and we're getting ready to have another meetup in Kansas City. And so I'm super excited that meetups are actually happening and that that's unfolding carefully, cautiously, but what a beautiful thing to hold space together in person. And Canada, I'm working on it. I'm working on it.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Kate, for sharing. Dandelion shared episode 97, the giver. It's a good one. I wanted to share this piece, but it might be worth a listen to if you are needing some empowering energy. The quote is, so the main character is a boy, but here's the funny thing that feels so much like DID, so much like therapy, so much like dissociation.
Speaker 1:The whole community of people have worked so hard to turn everything off, But to do that, they can't remember anything that triggers those feelings for good or for bad. And so there's one person designated in the community who holds all the memories of things that are good and things that are hard. And in the story, the main character is this boy who has been chosen to become the next one who holds these memories and he can't do his job until he completes his training. And part of his training is learning to receive these memories and he receives them from the one who came before him. And so since he is receiving the memories from the other one who was before him, he calls that one the giver.
Speaker 1:So the giver of memories passes on the memories to the one who is becoming the next receiver of memories, and that feels a lot like therapy. Specifically, what got my attention was how the boy has to learn to tolerate memories and not just tolerating the memories, but tolerating the feelings that come with the memories. And not just tolerating memories and tolerating feelings that come with the memories, but tolerating the questions that come up when you have feelings and when you have memories. This was really important because one thing we're learning right now is that therapy is a lot more than just getting to know the other members of the community inside. Therapy is a lot more than just giving memories or sharing memories or receiving memories.
Speaker 1:Therapy is about connecting them that when this happened, I felt this. And then when this happened, another part of me felt this, which was a different feeling than what I felt. Or that when this happened, this is what I heard and this is what I saw and this is what I smelled and this is what I touched and this is what happened to me and how I felt about each of those pieces and what I thought and what the experiences was like. And it's about holding all of those things together and holding all of those things at once. That's why it's overwhelming.
Speaker 1:It makes sense now. I never understood why it was so hard if it's such a simple thing. But what I saw in the musical while I was watching the play or listening to the songs, what I realized was that it's not simple at all because there are so many layers, not just because there are so many parts, but because there are so many layers of the experience itself and so many layers to my response to the experience and so many questions that come from the response. Oh my goodness. That thank you for sharing this and reminding us of this.
Speaker 1:We are going through the podcast with our therapist very slowly and carefully and processing some of these things. And it's been really helpful because there are pieces that not are lost because I know they're in there, but that we have sort of lost access to. And even just in a very normal way, I had no idea that in five or six years, so many podcast episodes would be so many pieces that we can actually go back and listen to and still learn from even in a deeper way now. So I'm learning that from you all and I appreciate it. Thank you really, dandelions.
Speaker 1:Kate asked, the interview with Nadia was amazing. Thank you for sharing it on System Speak. Is it the same as episode two of the Care in Crisis podcast? Podcast? Yes.
Speaker 1:So here is the care in crisis podcast. I helped Nadia get that set up and going, but she's basically gonna be doing that. That's mostly her project. I don't even know that I'll be on it again. I really don't know.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'll do whatever she asks that is helpful, but that's really for, like, the Ukrainian people and the scattering across the world so that they can continue to care well for people in their own language. And so that's why we were doing that. But the episode is exactly the same on both podcast. Yes. Except that on the System Speak podcast, we included the memoriam of the names of our listeners who were killed in the invasion.
Speaker 1:And so that is unique to System Speak. The Care in Crisis podcast does not have that. But on System Speak, we included those names because those family members or partners of those people notified us that they have passed. So we included that on the System Speak podcast, but we did not include that on Care in Crisis. And I've completely transferred Care in Crisis over to Nadia, so I don't even have access to it anymore.
Speaker 1:And I will do whatever she needs for helping, but it's not really like our podcast we're gonna keep going. So I'm super excited that there was a way that we could help, but it is not a project I am maintaining. That is something she is going to be doing. That was a good question, Kate. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Oh, someone posted a picture of some fancy NTIS writing on their arm, and someone else talked about how good group was and how it felt to experience role models and attunement. Oh, I love the happy, I love the healing that is happening in this group. Unpretending shared, I just listened to episode phase two, Out of the Woods. I've listened before and it was reassuring to listen again. I'd have to say it's one of my favorite of the newer episodes because of the comfort of listening to Emma and Nathan share their lives with one another and with us.
Speaker 1:I love hearing Sasha relating with Nathan and vice versa. It's not often that people get the opportunity to be a fly on the wall in such a conversation. I really hope that Nathan does get to have his work produced and the theater world celebrate his creativity before he leaves the planet. It would be even nicer if his parents can see it too. Oh, you guys, his parents are not doing well.
Speaker 1:It is such a sad thing. They are beautiful, kind people, and his father is okay other than being in his late eighties and completely worn out, completely worn out from caring for the husband's mother. And she is just not doing well. And it's all in slow motion and awful. And she is so she is suffering.
Speaker 1:She is suffering. They need our thoughts or prayers or thoughts and prayers or whatever you say in America. They they oh, comfort to them. My heart. I can't even.
Speaker 1:They said, I do have a culture barrier with something though that maybe someone can help me understand. Although I know she was being cheeky at the time. What? I would never be cheeky. I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1:She says, I'm tired of learning. What is that? It sounds like murmuring and we would never murmur. So my question, although it's not particularly important, is in that context, what is murmuring? Emma and Nathan, thanks again for sharing part of your world with the world.
Speaker 1:It is such a privilege that I want to remember not to take for granted. Oh, that's so kind. And I can totally answer your question. Murmuring is a phrase that comes from our faith tradition, and it means what you think it means. But in this context, when we're talking about it as there's a difference between acknowledging something is hard and acting in faith anyway, or acknowledging something is scary or that you feel afraid and having courage anyway, as opposed to murmuring and complaining and not acting or trying.
Speaker 1:Does that make sense? So I hope that clears that up. I really appreciate that you called out a cultural thing because I wanna communicate effectively. And if I don't catch it or notice it, I can't help or improve. And that was an easy one to answer.
Speaker 1:So thank you for asking. This one says, phase two, unboxing our new CIs. I don't think I'll ever get tired of listening to this episode. The delight and relief Emma expresses over receiving brand new ears after asking for so long is the most heartwarming experience. Oh, I will still cry thinking about it.
Speaker 1:I can't even I can't even tell you. And then people are posting pictures of their shirts and hats and coffee cups. Oh, I'm so excited that it's all arriving. I'm so glad you're getting your stuff. Thank you everyone for your support.
Speaker 1:We will be catching up the wait list for books for those who are not able to get them and shipping those out. So it should be a couple weeks and they will be there. The shipping crisis is starting to resolve in some ways, so I hope it gets there. We still have books that we had to ship through Canada to Australia that have been on the way since October, and it has been months and months and months, and we are still waiting for those to arrive. So hold on, keep breathing.
Speaker 1:If you get everything is on Amazon now, not the merchandise, just all three books. So if it's easier for you to just get them on Amazon and then when you get the extra books, you can donate them or pass them on to somebody or notify us. Somebody please post a picture when the books finally arrive in Australia because, we've been trying so hard to get them there. Multimiz says, the Seattle Book In podcast, though, it was so, so nice to hear you step into now time and have it being met with connection, friendship, and safety. I hope the memories catapult you towards experiences that can be looked forward to.
Speaker 1:Keep building that healthy memory bank. Oh my goodness. Right? Like, how tired could we be of whining? Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:Those were some dark years. I'm so sorry. It was so hard. But things are going really well right now as far as I know. And and it was just Seattle was amazing.
Speaker 1:It was amazing. All of us had a blast. After we recorded that podcast, we actually had the whole next day off. Everyone from ISSTD had already gone home, but our flight was not leaving until the next day. And you guys, we took the day to take the Littles and Jean Marc and some others all around Seattle.
Speaker 1:We did the Space Needle. We did the aquarium. We went on the ferry, and we went to see the Van Gogh exhibit. And it was a day. Like, I can't even tell you how good it was for us.
Speaker 1:And then we slept so hard the next day, and then we're ready to fly and everybody sort of rebalanced before we had to land at home and be a mom and work again. And it was just so good for us. I can't even tell you how much we enjoyed every ounce of Seattle. Like we're exhausted and worn out, but it was so, so good. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Holly added, I just listened. I'm so, so, so very happy for you, Emma Sunshine. I cried along with you through that episode, reflecting on the incredible journey you have made between those two conferences. You deserve all the goodness that you are experiencing. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:It will make me cry. Like, cannot tell you, cannot tell you what a bookend experience that was. Like, I feel like I don't I don't even know how to describe it other than how we already have. It was so good for us. So good for us.
Speaker 1:It was so good for us. I'm just gonna leave it at that. So that catches up emails, and I hope everything is going well. In case we have not gotten to mention it, people on system speak, here's what you need to know. We have three books out on Amazon.
Speaker 1:One is the memoir, one is the workbook, Me, Not Me, and We, A Lived Experience Workbook for Dissociative Identity Response. And then the third book is a clinical compilation that we edited for treatment, ethical issues, and cultural issues for the treatment of DID. So if you are nerdy and you want that book, can get it. If you're a therapist, you absolutely need it because there's nothing like it in the literature. And it has a forward written by our friend Laura Brown, who is a psychologist here in Seattle.
Speaker 1:And then the first chapter is by Jamie Merritt, the dancing mindful movement EMDR queen who spoke at Healing Together, who has been on the podcast, who is our friend and does a lot of in the EMDR world. Her chapter is called Cultural Humility in the Treatment and Healing of Dissociation. And then we have our big nerdy chapter about the historical context of dissociative diagnoses and how all of that is unfolded. You guys have heard all of that on our presentation episodes as we developed it over the years. It is like six years of research of compiling it together and untangling things.
Speaker 1:And I'm really, really proud of that because it was the work I needed to get a good foundation to understand what it is I'm responding to when I speak from a lived experience perspective. Lived experience does not just give you the right to throw a baby fit. Like you need to know what you're talking about and you need to know what you're responding to. Not just I have big feelings and wanna throw a fit. And so this was really, really good for me and I hope it's helpful for you as well.
Speaker 1:Christine Forner also did a chapter on misogyny and patriarchy in the continuation of dissociative disorders. Jillian Hosey did a chapter on therapeutic presence and relationship as both a trigger and container. So this is about polyvagal therapy and why we freak out when our therapists are so good to us. It's a brilliant chapter. It's so, so good.
Speaker 1:Alexis did a chapter on non suicidal self injury and suicidality. Annie Goldsmith, who is on the podcast, did one about about diet culture trauma acceptance, and it's powerful. You need to read this chapter. Catherine Rubin is like the newest researcher on the scene. She is for the first time, like pioneering blazing trails about dissociation and autism and that intersectionality.
Speaker 1:Intersectionality. Alexis also wrote a chapter about parenting with dissociation. And then Mary Anne Cates, who usually does the dissociation one hundred one presentation with Christine Forner at ISSTD. She's a researcher in Australia. I love her.
Speaker 1:And she included a chapter of a survey of different lived experience perspectives about trauma and dissociation and why it's so hard to disclose it. And then we used what we learned from Lou Himes and talking with Lou Himes to include a chapter on LGBT. Our friend, Maren, wrote a chapter about when disability and complex dissociative disorders intersect, about the impact of physical disabilities and when the body is bad. It's not really bad, but that's what it feels like. And it can feels like that when parts of your body don't actually work.
Speaker 1:Right? Not just a dissociative response, but those of us with physical disabilities that affect the entire system because it's a body issue. And then we also talked about there's also a chapter by my friend about the impact of racism and trauma, And there's a chapter about the plurality movement just to introduce it for context so people understand what they are learning about when they run into that online and what to do about it or not. That already needs to be updated because John O'Neil and I have had a big breakthrough in ironing out sort of the layout. He put beautiful words to it, and I added that to my presentation here in ISSTD.
Speaker 1:And that chapter is the same chapter as what was in the workbook, but it's also updated with footnotes to direct plural sources, as well as clarifying some things like I never said, never said that all plurals were sociogenic. I was talking about a specific TikTok trend that is across mental health phenomena, not just plurality. I also never said that the 2018 survey is when the term plural was invented. It wasn't. It was already in use for years and years and years before that, but that is when it was voted on as a term to be used community wide.
Speaker 1:That's all I said, and that is what happened. But it was already in use. That's how it was submitted as one of the options. So I clarify some of those things because that's the criticism I've gotten from the plural community that I thought was obvious, but that they felt was understated. So I emphasize that more in this chapter and the workbook will also be updated in the next edition.
Speaker 1:And then there's also a chapter by Lisa Dannichuk and Christine Forner about the concept of secure fullness, which is when secure attachment and mindfulness, so secure, mindful, mindfully secure, secure fullness. That's how they developed the term. And what happens when you can develop that in the therapeutic relationship? It's incredible. And I'm super excited about this book.
Speaker 1:You guys at ISSTD, it literally sold out before we could get it on the table. Like people were coming to grab boxes. It was so amazing, and we're so grateful for the support. So all three books, the memoir of tears were prayers, the workbook, me, not me, and we, and the clinical compilation which is called perspectives of dissociative identity response, ethical, historical, and cultural issues. And that one is under our legal name edited by Emily Christensen, PhD.
Speaker 1:So that was a lot of information and a lot of emails, but it has been a very exciting season and we are super excited to be back. And the episodes after this email podcast will be new for everyone as they will have been recorded since we came back on the air. So we are all caught up together, and I hope we see you in the community. Thank you for listening.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for listening to us and for all of your support for the podcast, our books, and them being donated to survivors and the community. It means so much to us as we try to create something that's never been done before, not like this. Connection brings healing. One of the ways we practice this is in community together. The link for the community is in the show notes.
Speaker 2:We look forward to seeing you there while we practice caring for ourselves, caring for our family, and participating with those who also care for community. And remember, I'm just a human, not a therapist for the community, and not there for dating, and not there to be shiny happy. Less shiny, actually. I'm there to heal too. Being human together.
Speaker 2:So, Sometimes,
Speaker 1:we'll see you there.