System Speak: Complex Trauma and Dissociation

By Emma SunshawScience Social Sciences Health & Fitness Mental Health

System Speak: Complex Trauma and Dissociation episodes

March 31, 2019 PPWC Session: The Polyvagal Theory
Dr. E introduces the polyvagal theory, research from Stephen Porges. His proposes a theory that connects the neurobiological processes of the brain with emotional experience, attachment, and communication. There are some pictures and video links on the blog that may be helpful while listening to this podcast. Dr. E explains why it is still only a "theory", how the vegus nerves work, and what that has to do with trauma and dissociation.
51 min
March 30, 2019 Emma Gets Grounded
Emma talks about homework about grounding. She talks about triggers and now time versus memory time. She references a time after therapy when she smelled fire in the fields from seasonal burning and kept crying. She also talks about feeling uncomfortable with having her picture taken and walking past a group of men.

Our website is HERE: System Speak Podcast.
You can submit an email to the podcast HERE.
You can JOIN THE COMMUNITY HERE. Once you are in, you can use a non-Apple device or non-safari browser to join groups HERE. Once you are set up, then the website and app work on any device just fine. We have peer support check-in groups, an art group, movie groups, social events, and classes. Additional zoom groups are optional, but only available by joining the groups. Join us!
Content Note: Content on this website and in the podcasts is assumed to be trauma and/or dissociative related due to the nature of what is being shared here in general. Content descriptors are generally given in each episode. Specific trigger warnings are not given due to research reporting this makes triggers worse. Please use appropriate self-care and your own safety plan while exploring this website and during your listening experience. Natural pauses due to dissociation have not been edited out of the podcast, and have been left for authenticity. While some professional material may be referenced for educational purposes, Emma and her system are not your therapist nor offering professional advice. Any informational material shared or referenced is simply part of our own learning process, and not guaranteed to be the latest research or best method for you. Please contact your therapist or nearest emergency room in case of any emergency. This website does not provide any medical, mental health, or social support services.

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
43 min
March 30, 2019 Plural Positivity World Conference 2019 Keynote - History of DID
Dr. E presents the keynote address for the 2019 Plural Positivity World Conference. She was invited to speak about the history of DID, as well as a treatment history. Dr. E walks us through the past, from the first self-reported case in 1584 to the development of the DSM and the ISSTD. She shares some of the latest research reports, specifically about fMRI's. She issues a call for renewal, to bridge the gap between the clinical and survivor community. This episode has some historical case studies given with a variety of abuse scenarios referenced, but none discussed in depth. References to difficult therapy or therapy culture struggles may also be triggering, but is discussed in the context of acknowledging systemic wounds and seeking healing.
1 hr
March 29, 2019 The Attic
JohnMark talks about therapy with him and Sarah. He talks about feeling the little girls fear when he gets close to them. Talks about there being reasons it's hard to talk about hard things. Also mentions body memories, dead parents, and holding now time while also looking at memory time. Talks about not being to be scared of every man or woman. No specific memories shared.
Our website is HERE: System Speak Podcast.
You can submit an email to the podcast HERE.
You can JOIN THE COMMUNITY HERE. Once you are in, you can use a non-Apple device or non-safari browser to join groups HERE. Once you are set up, then the website and app work on any device just fine. We have peer support check-in groups, an art group, movie groups, social events, and classes. Additional zoom groups are optional, but only available by joining the groups. Join us!
Content Note: Content on this website and in the podcasts is assumed to be trauma and/or dissociative related due to the nature of what is being shared here in general. Content descriptors are generally given in each episode. Specific trigger warnings are not given due to research reporting this makes triggers worse. Please use appropriate self-care and your own safety plan while exploring this website and during your listening experience. Natural pauses due to dissociation have not been edited out of the podcast, and have been left for authenticity. While some professional material may be referenced for educational purposes, Emma and her system are not your therapist nor offering professional advice. Any informational material shared or referenced is simply part of our own learning process, and not guaranteed to be the latest research or best method for you. Please contact your therapist or nearest emergency room in case of any emergency. This website does not provide any medical, mental health, or social support services.

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
31 min
March 27, 2019 Guest: Peter Barach, PhD
Dr. E interviews Peter Barach, PhD, past president of ISSTD. Dr. Barach is the one who linked disordered attachment to DID, and he also was on the committee that produced the treatment guidelines for DID. He opens by sharing his own story of learning about DID. He explains about hypnosis, as well as EMDR, and why this is helpful with trauma and dissociation. They discuss the impact on survivors of managed care, the changes in graduate schools education, and the False Memory Syndrome. They talk about the Plural Positivity World Conference, and why it matters in bridging the gap between clinicians and survivors to bring healing to the systemic wound caused by those issues. It's a positive discussion even from differing perspectives, and a beautiful place for beginning conversation as a united community. He explains how he defines trauma and dissociation, and what is important in treating it. They discuss the phenomenon of time seeming to speed up or slow down around trauma. He shares about connecting with clients through shared moments of communication, being present in his own body and sensorimotor responses, and helping his clients do so as well. Dr. E reviews some context of our diagnosis, which has been shared already in previous episodes, including the deaths of our parents and the impact of DID diagnosis on her clinical practice. They discuss self-care as well and what good therapy looks like and what you can talk about in therapy, and that it's critical to change therapists if you feel it isn't safe or helpful. Dr. E links this to ACE's and repeated traumas as survivors re-enact traumas with bad therapists, not just domestic violence situations. Dr. E also shares about working with adolescent sex offenders early in her career, and they process the triggers of that experience in the context of (S)RA survivors who were forced to act out abuse as part of their own abuse. They close with a discussion about integration and why functional multiplicity is part of the process - and what the risks are for stopping therapy at that point rather than continuing. He shares some case study stories in this episode: a veteran with phantom leg pain, a woman in a psychiatric hospital due criminal charges, and an outpatient client who presented with a little girl. There may be some aspects of these stories that are triggering, due to the trauma related to causing DID, but those aspects are not focused on or discussed in depth.
Our website is HERE: System Speak Podcast and sponsoring nonprofit website is HERE: S3C Foundation.
You can submit an email to the podcast HERE.
You can JOIN THE COMMUNITY HERE. Once you have registered with the network, you will receive an invitation to orientation, and then can use a non-Apple device or non-safari browser to join groups HERE. Once you are set up, then the website and app work on any device just fine. We have peer check-in groups, an art group, recovery groups, social events, and classes. Additional zoom groups are optional, but only available by joining the groups. Join us!
Content Note: Content on this website and in the podcasts is assumed to be trauma and/or dissociative related due to the nature of what is being shared here in general. Content descriptors are generally given in each episode. Specific trigger warnings are not given due to research reporting this makes triggers worse. Please use appropriate self-care and your own safety plan while exploring this website and during your listening experience. Natural pauses due to dissociation have not been edited out of the podcast, and have been left for authenticity. While some professional material may be referenced for educational purposes, Emma is not your therapist nor offering professional advice. Any informational material shared or referenced is simply part of our own learning process, and not guaranteed to be the latest research or best method for you. Please contact your therapist or nearest emergency room in case of any emergency. This website does not provide any medical, mental health, or social support services.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
56 min
March 27, 2019 Julie's Fan Club
Sasha opens a box from Julie after a really hard therapy appointment. She shared the emotions she is sensing as JohnMark is realizing he was supposed to protect the girls but wasn't able to prevent abuse. They try to cheer up the system by reading mail and feeling the love after recent hard weeks.
39 min
March 27, 2019 Hardball with Julie
Sasha calls Julie after a hard therapy session, and Julie vents about softball coaching and dealing with parents. Sasha describes how therapy seems to shift in a different experience now that we are communicating more internally, and she struggles to ground herself. Julie reminds Sasha to use grounding skills. They process the experience of a difficult podcast interview and how they handled those triggers. Julie discloses her traumatic experience of finding out her neighbor was arrested for inappropriate behavior with a minor, and what about watching that happen was triggering for her. Sasha then shares her first hate mail! They decide unboxing fan mail is way more fun than hate mail. Julie then shares a story about her "Patchwork Quilt" experience, when an emotional abuser cut up her baby blanket. When she shares her story, Sasha wants to know how Julie is able to put all the pieces of that memory together - including what triggered the memory in the first place. When Sasha opens some hair pins in a package, she opens up about why that is extra meaningful and shares a little about our experience with cancer and chemo and head injuries that left scars on the skull, which were revealed when chemo made our hair fall out. Sasha introduces what we are learning about ACEs and autoimmune disorders. Then she shares about the inside kids playing with the outside kids. She and Julie relax then, grounding through happy mail and friendship, learning about social support together. Because this episode is about triggers and some examples are given, this may be a very triggering episode. Please use caution when listening and good self care during and after listening.
52 min
March 23, 2019 Guest: DissociaDID
Today's guest is Kyle from Chloe's system, who run the DissociaDID channel on YouTube. They talk about connecting with audiences, learning who is safe and who isn't, and boundaries. They talk about self-care, friendship, and the need for supporting each other as a DID community. They share what it's like to have a partner system, and what it means to learn to love and be cared for in return. Kyle shares what they have learned as a system since starting their channel a year ago. No specific abuse memories are discussed in this episode.
46 min
March 21, 2019 Five Piece, Part Two
In this episode, we Interview Tory Despres about his role as the drummer in the film Five Piece, which is about a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Tory shares how he got the role in the film, and how he developed his character. He shares his experiences of learning more about DID after only being exposed to the dramatized portrayals in pop culture. He points out that besides commercialized media, individuals also have a personal and social responsibility to discern reality from the drama portrayed. He explores what he learned about DID that he didn’t know before, and asks a few questions of his own.
43 min
March 21, 2019 Five Piece, Part One
We interview Matthew Roth, writer and director of Five Piece, which has already won Best Picture at several film festivals. Five Piece is a new film about a man and his band. The man, a character named Brandon, has Dissociative Identity Disorder. The trailer for the film is played. Matthew explains how he learned about DID and what he did to prepare for the film. We discuss the stigma and sensationalism of mainstream media, and why he wanted this film to be different. They discuss the subtleties of switching, and the intensity of emotion in the film. Five Piece is a dark and intense film, provides a very male experience of DID, and strives to accurately portray the subtle presentation but vulnerable experience of DID. The story moves slowly, accurately portraying the experience of time stretching in dissociation. Trigger warnings for the film itself include an opening scene where the camera pans past the main character's girlfriend, who is naked and laying on her stomach (not fully exposed, and in the context of a positive relationship - she in no way appears distressed, nor is there any touching of her body at all in the scene). There is a lot of intense emotional expression in the film, a great deal of verbal aggression, and a scene where one of the band members destroys a guitar. The ending of the film is intentionally ambiguous, so as to leave the viewer pondering the film and the relationships of the band members.
36 min

About System Speak: Complex Trauma and Dissociation

From the publisher's feed

Emma shares about complex trauma, deprivation, and dissociation (CPTSD, OSDD, DID). Educational, supportive, and inspiring, System Speak documents the best and worst of life through insights,…