A Couple of Multiples: The Reality of Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder

Drew & Garden System talk about listening (ironic we know!) instead of just trying to talk to parts. Remember that it’s not just “talking” you’re listening for, because not all parts communicate with words or by talking. Sometimes communication is thoughts we notice or pictures we see internally. Being quiet can feel uncomfortable because one often becomes aware of memories and feelings that parts were keeping tucked away. Validating and accepting parts’ feelings and letting your selves express emotions is discussed. Also discussed is parts that still may be stuck in trauma time. We give several personal examples of how to get these parts up to speed on daily life and the present. We also touch on navigating parts in a system having different partner preferences, different and opposing sexual orientations, and different gender identities.  Having a system of parts becomes one giant balancing act when you start listening and incorporating everyone’s needs, wants and wishes.

Visit acoupleofmultiples.com to sign up for our mailing list and to find out all about our private, paid community called Hearts Multiplied for people with dissociative disorders, their supporters, and therapists treating DID!

We are honored to have a gold plus sponsor for season 2! The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is one of the largest EMDR Therapy training programs in North America, founded and directed by Dr. Jamie+ Marich, author of Dissociation Made Simple. Dr. Jamie is the only EMDR therapy trainer who is "out" as a plural, and since 2015 she's offered the full EMDR Therapy basic training in a way that honors lived experience and destigmatizes dissociation in clinical work. We have never felt more accepted and validated as a multiple than when we were able to show up authentically as Garden System for our basic EMDR training. Having lived experience is valued and respected in these training courses. Go to www.instituteforcreativemindfulness.com for a full list of upcoming trainings, both online and in-person, offered by Dr. Jamie and her selected network of EMDR trainers. Are you interested in becoming a sponsor? Please send an email to [email protected] to request more information.

Thank you to our bronze sponsor, Alix Amar LCSW, who offers weekly Creative Art classes including the Creative Journal, Soul Collage and Altered Books, all on the Zoom Platform exclusively for people living with dissociation. For more information check out her website at alixamar.com, or her Facebook page "Dissociative Creative Explorations".

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Drew & Garden System have a playful conversation about the benefits of sand tray therapy for those living with dissociative disorders with Dr. Elisa Niles Thorne (Dr, E). Topics include how sand tray can enhance internal communication between dissociative selves, how it can help nonverbal selves communicate, and how it can be used to process complex experiences. Whether you are a therapist or a client living with a dissociative disorder, you can learn so much from Dr. E's knowledge about the sand tray.

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Thank you to our Gold Plus Sponsor: The Institute for Creative Mindfulness

Dr. E is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Florida. She is a Board Certified Counselor and a qualified supervisor for mental health interns and marriage and family therapist interns. Dr. E is a recipient of the National Board of Certified Counselor- Minority Fellowship Program (2016). She completed her education at the University of the Virgin Islands 2002, 2005 and Argosy University in 2009. She completed her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision at Walden University. Her dissertation examined the Impact of Trauma on Re-occurring Homelessness in the U. S. Virgin Islands.

Her Specializations include: Christian Counseling; Clinical Supervision; Dissociative Disorders; Play Therapy; Trauma/Complex Trauma; and Women Issues

She has presented at local, state, and national conferences. She is now a published contributing author in the textbook: Fazio-Griffith, L. J., & Marino, R. (Eds.). (2021). Techniques and Interventions for Play Therapy and Clinical Supervision. IGI Global. http://doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-4628-4 

Dr. E currently works as an associate professor at Hodges University in Fort Myers, Florida. She is the Founder and Owner of SoundMind Counseling and Consulting Services, LLC.

Dr. E hails from the Caribbean Island of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, and has also lived in Jamaica and Antigua.

Sand Tray Training Resources:
Florida Sandplay Therapy Association
Southern Sandtray Institute
Free Online Sand Tray by Dr. Karen Fried

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Drew & Garden System welcome Alicia Leigh Hann to discuss the healing power of dance & movement when one is a multiple!

Alicia is a dance educator, performer, and choreographer based out of Columbus Ohio. She fell in love with dance because of its endless possibilities for creative physical expression. Movement has been an integral part of her personal recovery from a trauma induced eating disorder. Alicia has taught dance technique and facilitated movement experiences in therapeutic, classroom and community settings, as well as performed and set work nationally. She aims to foster an appreciation of dance as a physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual pursuit.  

Alicia serves as the director of operations for the Institute for Creative Mindfulness where she gets to combine her administrative skills with her passion for helping people find healing through self-expression with programs like Dancing Mindfulness and mental health advocacy. She takes pride in being the supportive role which allows ICM’s faculty of mental health clinicians to create and train curriculum to providers, leading to therapeutic healing for their clients. 

Please visit our website at acoupleofmultiples.com to join our mailing list and learn all about our private, paid community called Hearts Multiplied for people with dissociative disorders, their supporters, and mental health professionals treating DID.

We are honored to have a gold plus sponsor for season 2! The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is one of the largest EMDR Therapy training programs in North America, founded and directed by Dr. Jamie+ Marich, author of Dissociation Made Simple. Dr. Jamie is the only EMDR therapy trainer who is "out" as a plural, and since 20 15 she's offered the full EMDR Therapy basic training in a way that honors lived experience and destigmatizes dissociation in clinical work. We have never felt more accepted and validated as a multiple than when we were able to show up authentically as Garden System for our basic EMDR training. Having lived experience is valued and respected in these training courses. Go to www.instituteforcreativemindfulness.com for a full list of upcoming trainings, both online and in-person, offered by Dr. Jamie and her selected network of EMDR trainers. Are you interested in becoming a sponsor? Please send an email to [email protected] to request more information.

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Drew & Garden System kick off Season 2 by sharing all the first signs of internal communication that happened within their systems. Listen to their comical, personal stories of how their selves made themselves known. This episode includes topics of suicidal ideation, self-harm, and eating disorders.

Visit acoupleofmultiples.com to sign up for our mailing list and to find out all about our private, paid community called Hearts Multiplied for people with dissociative disorders, their supporters, and therapists treating DID!

We are honored to have a gold plus sponsor for season 2! The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is one of the largest EMDR Therapy training programs in North America, founded and directed by Dr. Jamie+ Marich, author of Dissociation Made Simple. Dr. Jamie is the only EMDR therapy trainer who is "out" as a plural, and since 20 15 she's offered the full EMDR Therapy basic training in a way that honors lived experience and destigmatizes dissociation in clinical work. We have never felt more accepted and validated as a multiple than when we were able to show up authentically as Garden System for our basic EMDR training. Having lived experience is valued and respected in these training courses. Go to www.instituteforcreativemindfulness.com for a full list of upcoming trainings, both online and in-person, offered by Dr. Jamie and her selected network of EMDR trainers. Are you interested in becoming a sponsor? Please send an email to [email protected] to request more information.

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In this legendary season one finale episode, Drew & Garden System discuss boundaries with friends, family, and within the therapeutic relationship.  They talk about how they created a chosen community of friends and family and what is like to unmask through disclosure, including the thought processes around deciding if and when to disclose a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder.

References:
Drew & Garden System discussed the use of therapeutic touch in therapy with clients that have a history of sexual trauma and a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Here is an article discussed: https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/touch-in-therapy-helpful-or-harmful-one-therapists-perspective-0629175

The short film, Petals of a Rose is a great way to teach friends and family about DID. You can watch the 15 minute film here:  https://www.dylancrumpler.com/petals-of-a-rose

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Drew & Garden System share their experiences with various healing modalities for the trauma that led to dissociative identity disorder, including: music & music therapy, drumming, sound healing, yoga, meditation & visualization, EFT Tapping, anger wall, and the quantum energy wellness bed.

Articles on Sound & Music:
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_music_bonds_us_together

https://www.soundtravels.co.uk/a-Sound_Therapy_and_the_Vagus_Nerve-3617.aspx

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/music-synchronizes-the-brains-of-performers-and-their-audience/

https://www.themusiciansbrain.com/making-music-together-syncs-brains/

Website for Quantum Energy Wellness Bed

https://quantumwellnessus.com/quantum-energy-wellness-bed

Our website

https://www.acoupleofmultiples.com/

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Art is one of the many healing modalities used for trauma processing. Megs from Brushstrokes & Imagination helps us to understand how having DID influences her art and creative processes. Megs is an incredible self-taught artist with minimal formal training. Artworks was one of their earliest escapes. They have continued to cultivate and express themselves since childhood. They are inspired by nature, and the bold dash of color. They were also very influenced by emotion and the unseen challenges of their mental health.

They began by studying their own childhood photos. While looking at the photographs, they are reminded of the location the photo was originally taken. They're reminded of the smells & voices echoing in their mind. As they begin to paint, they're processing the feelings that emerge. In the photos they see the younger versions of themselves and how they were taught to feel versus how they truly felt. They illuminate the tiniest of details & darkness without light. As they're painting from these photos they are able to rewrite the narrative. They are able to reconnect with all parts of themselves.

@Brushstrokes_Imagination
@acoupleofmultiples
@note_to_selves
@seidi_gardensystem

acoupleofmultiples.com

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Drew and Garden System share a multitude of research-based and some out-of-the-box healing interventions that they have used in their trauma recovery. Topics include CBT, grounding, handling self-harm urges, writing, play therapy, sand tray therapy, equine therapy, and EMDR.

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Drew & Garden System have a chat with Dylan & Holly Crumpler about the portrayal of Dissociative Identity Disorder in Hollywood films. Dylan & Holly discuss the diagnostic journey, how the film Petals of a Rose came to be, their upcoming projects to help reduce stigma, and their hopes for the future.

Holly and Dylan Crumpler are a mother-son team of passionate activists working to reduce the stigma associated with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Given that DID has historically been depicted in an inaccurate, sensationalized, and violent way in film and television, Dylan created his senior thesis film, Petals of a Rose, at Chapman University to realistically depict a day in the life of a woman with DID. He co-wrote the screenplay with his mother, Holly, who was diagnosed with DID in 2018 at the age of 51.

Holly is a retired Tax Partner at Deloitte, an international public accounting firm, where she worked for 25 years consulting with corporations regarding their global compensation and benefit programs. Dylan is an independent filmmaker and 2022 graduate of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production with an emphasis in Directing and a Themed Inquiry in Leadership.

Petals of a Rose has received international acclaim, with Dylan and Holly sharing the film at numerous mental health conferences and educational events. The film is being used by clinicians in training sessions, college courses, and therapeutic settings. The film’s subtitles are available in twelve languages.

Following is the link where you can watch the 15 minute film and learn more about its impact:  https://www.dylancrumpler.com/petals-of-a-rose

Please consider rating and reviewing Petals of a Rose on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19715926

Dylan and Holly are now developing a documentary exploring the impact of misrepresentation of DID in film and television, and also a longer film/series expanding on the story of their short film’s protagonist, Rose.

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Drew and Garden System enthrall you with funny stories from grocery shopping while discussing the challenges of managing money as a multiple, and they talk about the positive side of dissociation when visiting the dentist. They also reflect on disclosures made to doctors, friends, and employers. They also share important things to know about medical trauma. 

References:  https://www.peersupportformultiples.com/services and https://www.dylancrumpler.com/petals-of-a-rose

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