System Speak: Complex Trauma and Dissociation

By Emma SunshawScience Social Sciences Health & Fitness Mental Health

System Speak: Complex Trauma and Dissociation episodes

January 26, 2019 AIM Survey
Emma shares about answering a survey before the healing together conference. Mentions learning that eyes might be a trigger. She processes her experience with the survey being difficult and scary. The questions get hard so Emma disappears and Sasha shows up. Mentions of types of abusive experiences in childhood including physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect.

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.

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46 min
January 25, 2019 Guest: Jeff Clark and the Patchwork Quilt
We talk with Jeff Clark, author of "The Patchwork Quilt", which explains DID to inside and outside Littles.
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 ★
1 hr 10 min
January 23, 2019 Planning a Mission
In this episode, John and JohnMark talk a bit about therapy today. Specifically, they share about watching Taylor talk to the therapist for the first time and then JohnMark switching out to take his turn. John shares some specifics about applying what we learned in group the last two weeks. There are some abuse references in this episode, such a reference to being locked in a room and a reference to a photography studio, but no specific details given. The context is in effort to reach two insiders who maybe could be moved to safer places in the internal world as part of a “rescue mission”.
26 min
January 19, 2019 Guest: Dr. Warwick Middleton on Trauma
Dr. E interviews Warwick Middleton, past president of ISSTD and published researcher on trauma, dissociation, ritual abuse, and abuse ongoing into adulthood. He shares how he got into the field of studying trauma and dissociation, including his research into documenting verified cases of extreme and ongoing abuse. He shares case studies and different examples of different types of abuse. Due to the nature of the research and it’s content, a serious trigger warning is given for this episode. Different types of abuse are described, as are different types of confinement. Different weapons are mentioned. Examples of ritual abuse are given, including abuse in church settings, Satanic ritual abuse, and other types of abuse in organized settings. The “me too” movement is referenced in response to the False Memory Syndrome backlash of the 90’s, as well as discussing other types of cover-ups in effort to silence victims. In closing, Professor Middleton shares a poem song he wrote about the loss of innocence, which is very moving but also highly triggering. Please care well for your system while listening and after listening to this episode.
1 hr 5 min
January 19, 2019 Group Lessons
Sasha shares some of what she learned in four sessions of group with The Crisses System coach. Lessons include landscaping the internal world for safe places and increased communication, understanding ANP’s and EP’s, the importance of communicating with each other respectful, trauma responses in the brain, and triggers from memory time in now time. No abuse memories are shared in this episode.
23 min
January 18, 2019 More About Littles
Sasha follows Dr. E’s last episode by explaining her perspective of littles and age in DID. She shares about time perception, gives examples of littles adjusting to presenting through an older body, and normalizes the beyond-age awareness through neutral non-DID examples. She explains about how our system manages time out front for Littles, and some of the important things we learn from them. No abuse examples or specifics are given in this episode.
32 min
January 17, 2019 Age and Development in DID
A listener wrote in asking about ages of alters and developmental stages theories. Dr. E responds by explaining a few of the many reasons some alters may remain younger or stop at different ages. She then discusses Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development, and how this is impacted both by trauma and recovery. Functional plurality is also explored. While examples of trauma impact are given, no abuse details are given in this episode.
1 hr
January 11, 2019 Unboxing Ourselves
Sasha shares a journaling experiment where we all responded to some questions about our communication, preferences, needs, fears, and what makes us feel safe. A huge undertaking for which we prepared for over a year, there are so far 23 responses and Sasha shares some of them. Handwriting samples can be seen on the blog. Due to the context of introductions, some trauma references are mentioned but no abuse details given.
49 min
January 08, 2019 Internal Worlds
Sasha shares what she is learning about internal worlds and making them safe places. She also briefly explains the terms ANP and EP. In this episode, Sasha is processing aloud as she goes for a walk, so there is some background and wind noise throughout - the wind noise is worse at the end. However, it was valuable enough to us as a system that it was worth sharing despite sound quality. While some internal landscaping references our background, including allusions and references to past abuse, no memories or examples of abuse are disclosed. Adding Christmas lights to a room and using a farm bell are examples of positive adjustments to our internal world.
29 min
January 06, 2019 The Three Emmas
In this episode, the new word is co-consciousness. After a year of therapy, the three Emmas have had some breakthroughs that help them be more present with each other and more aware of what is happening between the three of them. Emma Z’s story includes running away from family at 17 and early diagnosis in college. Emma T then found herself in another country, speaking another language, and enduring a series of volatile relationships with alcoholics. Emma S found a safe place with the husband while trying to reconcile family she didn’t remember. Here they tell their story of how putting this timeline together, working on common goals for safety, and improving communication led them a year later to this new experience of co-consciousness, which is explained using article three from Power to the Plurals. While the context of Emma’s background is mentioned in those respects, no graphic or specific memories or abuse are shared in this episode. One experience of our journals being mailed back to the parents by a bad and unlicensed counselor is told.
32 min

About System Speak: Complex Trauma and Dissociation

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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,…