therapist is in a hurry to integrate everybody.. :(

i've only been seeing him for almost 4 mos 3 wks... :O And he is in a hurry to integrate them and i think they are hiding. :O

That is very bad. Forcing integration or fusion on any timetable is a bad idea. Healing isn't linear. Forcing integration or fusion means potentially causing more harm by traumatizing alters who haven't experienced the bad memories or at least the bad memories that others have had. Integration, if it happens, needs to be done carefully.

We're sorry that you're having to deal with a therapist who wants to push integration on any timetable.

Violette

He'll just say thank you for helping ... would u like to integrate now , but it feels to rushed.

Integration and fusion are different things. Integration means "sharing the ressources" and "healing the traumas". Fusion means "two identities blend together until they are one and the same".

Online articles detailing the subject :
Cooperation stage of the therapy
Integration and fusion stages of the therapy
Other therapy tools

Additional books on the subject of DID and healing, I put emphasis on therapy guidelines :

ArbreMonde wrote:THEORY BOOKS ON DISSOCIATION AND TRAUMA

• The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic Traumatization by Onno van der Hart, Ellert R. S. Nijenhuis, Kathy Steele (2006)
  
• Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation by Janina Fisher (2017)
  
• Treating Trauma-Related Dissociation: A Practical, Integrative Approach by Kathy Steele, Suzette Boon, Onno van der Hart (2016)
  
• The Trinity of Trauma: Ignorance, Fragility, and Control (Vol I: The Evolving Concept of Trauma; Vol II: The Concept and Facts of Dissociation in Trauma) by Ellert Nijenhuis (2015) – The Trinity of Trauma: Ignorance, Fragility, and Control (Vol III: Enactive Trauma Therapy) (2017)
  
• The Body Remembers : The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment by Babette Rothscild (2000)
  
• The Body Keeps The Score: Mind, Brain and Body In The Transformation Of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk (2015)
  
• Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body and Brain by Daniel J. Siegel (2003)

• Guidelines for Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder in Adults by the ISSTD (2011)
  
• Practice Guidelines for Clinical Treatment of Complex Trauma by Blue Knot (2019)

• Trauma is Really Strange by Steve Haines, Sophie Standing (2015)
  
• Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders : Past, Present, Future by Martin J. Dorahy, Steven N. Gold, John A. O’Neil (2023)

SELF-HELP BOOKS ON DISSOCIATION AND TRAUMA

• Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists by Suzette Boon, Kathy Steele, Onno van der Hart (2011)
  
• 8 keys to safe trauma recovery: take-charge strategies to empower your healing by Babette Rothschild (2012)
  
• It Wasn’t Your Fault: Freeing Yourself from the Shame of Childhood Abuse with the Power of Self-Compassion by Beverly Enge, Kate Rudd (2015]
  
• The body never lies : the lingering effects of hurtful parenting by Alice Miller (2006) [Note : not added in the theory list due to lack of objectivity and academia study, still an interesting read though]
  
• Waking the Tiger - Healing Trauma - The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences by Peter A. Levine (1997) [Note : added in the list because it is a suggested read by the Blue Knot Foundation but the summary is biased, pretending that « animals in the wild rarely traumatize » while in reality, a traumatized wild animal does not survive in the wild – it is also called « the survivor biais ». It does not mean the whole book is bad ! But the premises are biaised.]
  
• Bouncing back : rewiring your brain for maximum resilience and well-being by Linda Graham (2013)
  
• Resilience: Powerful Practices for Bouncing Back from Disappointment, Difficulty, and even Disaster by Linda Graham (2018)
  
• Becoming Yourself: Overcoming Mind Control and Ritual Abuse by Alison Miller (2014)
  
• The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole by Arielle Schwartz; Jim Knipe (2017)
  
• Our House: Making Sense of Dissociative Identity Disorder + Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Guidebook for Survivors and Practitioners by Lindsay Schofield (2022) [Note : it's a set of two books]
  
• The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse by Ellen Bass; Laura Davis (2015)
  
• Victims No Longer: The Classic Guide for Men Recovering from Sexual Child Abuse by Mike Lew (2004)

oh well he calls it integration. he said it will be only my thoughts then... he is a christian therapist and doesn't completely agree with modern day psychiatry, psychology.

-- Sun Mar 31, 2024 5:36 am --

when i used to be on a DID group they called it that too. Anyway... i really haven't even gotten to know them. There are so many of them. :l It's been a little over 2 mos til 2 yrs. since i got woken up in my sleep from the voices of the children inside talking about somebody from our childhood.

Then you need to go to a proper DID therapist. And read the ressources I send you.

We'll back Arbremonde up on this one...you need someone who isn't going to rush you into fusion or integration. The modern guidelines exist because they are there to prevent causing more harm.