How to Make the Most of Therapy

Therapy is more useful when sessions are paced, documented, grounded, and connected to real life between appointments. 1 2 3

Main ideas

  • Use a shared notebook, secure notes, or session summary if amnesia makes therapy hard to carry forward.
  • End sessions with grounding and a simple next step.
  • Build plans for aftercare, crisis spikes, and internal disagreement before they are urgent.

Questions for reflection

  • What should we remember from today?
  • Who inside needs aftercare or reassurance?
  • What is the smallest next step before the next session?

Clinical note

Therapy does not only happen in the hard conversation. It also happens in how safely you leave it.

Footnotes

  1. International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. (2011). Guidelines for treating dissociative identity disorder in adults, third revision. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 12(2), 115-187. pp. 115-187. Full adult DID treatment guideline PDF. ↩

  2. Van der Hart, O., et al. (2012). The use of imagery in phase 1 treatment of clients with complex dissociative disorders. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 3. Phase 1 treatment article. Open access stabilization and imagery article. ↩

  3. Baekkelund, H., et al. (2022). Group treatment for complex dissociative disorders: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation. Randomized clinical trial. Open access group-treatment trial. ↩

Up next

Why Therapy Fails Dissociative Clients

Therapy can fail when it moves too fast, ignores dissociation, creates dependency, shames parts, or treats crisis as resistance.

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