Janina Fisher

Does anyone have experience with Janina Fisher's method for working with parts? Or have you read her book "Healing the fragmented selves..."?

My T is working with this method, but I feel insecure about whether it can meet our needs. Maybe my fear is irrational, it's hard to tell.

From what I can tell, the method seems focused on being kind to the other parts (which i think is a solid premise). What I don't really like is the practise of calling everything a part and the focus on the ANP ("going on with normal life part").

I'm really curious about others' opinions.

This sounds very interesting to me because it's what we have always done in this system. We worked on being kind to eachother, we used to argue alot more and sabotage eachother more and lock parts up and all sorts which I was largely unaware of as a host except when it reached external life "why did I just quit uni/that job/those friendships" and things like "why did I throw that thing I wanted away/where did that come from /I have alot of clothes"

Once aware and communicating got better and it was conscious for me to know a very little, I now realize, of what was going on internally life improved 10 fold.

When severely triggered I have the same reaction: I become psychotic because the twins are let loose. Usually it's very quick between the trigger and the psychosis but these triggers are always to do with present threats to safety. After we worked out the threat and how we have to deal with it to avoid the threat then normal life resumes.

Ten years ago as I was first looking into and accepting I have parts of myself I read on a forum, I don't think it was this one, about people with DID who were having therapy. I focused on how they were before and after therapy. Many would say things like "before therapy I only needed glasses occasionally and now I need them all the time" and "before therapy I was occasionally in alot of pain and now I'm in pain all the time" They also had more parts after therapy and more teams memory. So I concluded that going to therapy meant I'd be worse of.

So I did what you're basically saying. Started up communication and being kind internally with parts I knew about and put my focus on "aligning my life" which was my way of saying "I'm going to do my best to take parts needs into consideration and make a life that suits all as much as possible" That dramatically improved life, goals were achieved, I finished a course and got one job instead of working three different jobs. Everyone has basically said they preferred it when we worked a few different jobs, they didn't like the same place and same job every day. But anyway we did it rather than quit the course half way through.

With the recent crisis and hospital admission due to a present threat to my daughter I have more trauma memory and also more body issues. My feet were numb and I was told I'd never have feeling in them again at about age 20. The feeling came back and my feet were fine. Since No-one (an alter) came back they have been in pain alot but she has been doing a meditation and self talk that the feet are ok, which seems to be working because the pain this morning was much less.

So I do worry too much trauma access and focus on trauma can lead to more life problems. And did focus on communication and having a daily life that suited us all.

This pandemic has brought parts closer to the body I knew nothing about but I'm just going with it, they are hypervigilent, they do have odd ideas about who they are and they say they have alot of trauma memory. Eventually and slowly after this virus they will either go back internal or they will slowly realise there's little to be actually frightened of now and will start to realise their odd beliefs of who they are and where they come from are unnecessary and they will hopefully Integrtate into outside daily life and find a more mundane role in the system. I won't go into trauma with them unless it seems necessary because I still believe this makes things worse for the body and for living.

So i like this idea you posted. I read her web page a little and she makes sense. She has a very down to earth view of it, grounded.

Really it's all your personal choice though. If you want some other kind of treatment then do that instead, if this isn't your only option available to you?

I've been told before I can access DID treatment I have to of had trauma therapy first. I'm apprehensive because I worry accessing any more trauma will bring other problems. Right now I'm pretty much completely in denial and think I don't need any help at all though, so it's probably better to just go with the balls that are already rolling.

Keep us posted on how this works for you and if involves trams work or not? Her website seemed to say it avoided it because reliving trauma verbally causes great body stress.

Her books and training courses are popular among therapists who treat DID.

I think it is important to accept that you too are a part. I know it can be very hard to accept. Been there, done that.

I have no problems accepting that I am a part. It's more difficult to see every emotion or impulse as a part. I find it hard to tolerate that there are no different words for parts as everyone has and dissociative parts.
Furthermore, I am afraid that, because I'm already kind to the others, the approach wouldn't add much to what I already know. I'm not a beginner anymore in parts-communication and grounding.

What do you think of the approach? Have you worked with it/come into contact with people who have worked with it?

I have read one of Fisher's books and some of her other work too. I also was treated for a while by someone who said they used IFS. Only they used it to try to mask DID and pretend DID does not exist.

It sounds like the therapist using Fisher's framework with you may not understand it very well. Maybe ask the therapist when is an emotion not a part. Get inside their thinking and decide if it is sound or not.

Good idea.

She doesn't say wildly wrong things, I'm sure it would be good to hear for someone who has never heard it before. But somehow it irks me a lot, even when she just says to thank the part for their work in the past and that it's no longer needed.
It just sounds like a pre-recorded thing - not genuine. I also thank the others all the time, but before they see and feel that their past defenses are no longer necessary, just saying it won't change anything.

I seem to have an "allergy" against this method, but I don't understand why.

It seems to us that your T saying that "their work is no longer needed" needs to be coupled with an invitation to find a new purpose. Otherwise, it seems like a rejection.

Just our 94 cents.

MDs

I would be allergic to something that seems to invalidate my work and basically tells me to go away because I am unimportant. How does she know that the work is not needed anymore, often it is, just in a different way. I can also see how parts might get scared of rejection and even death when they are told that they are not useful anymore. especially for those of us who live to be useful and think that we have no right to live unless we are useful... when we are fully identified with our role, how can we accept that we shouldn't be that? and if we are not, if we know that we are much more than our role, does it even mean anything to us when she demands to leave that behind? maybe that isn't our problem at all. its not like all we are is a problem.

our favorite clinic T works in a similar way. But he starts it all with a ton of validation, praise and thankfulness for the work done in the past and open acknowledgements that we do a good job. only then does he introduce more of the present reality and the questions whether that kind of job is still needed, followed with the invitation to find a different meaning in life.

our DID T doesn't work that way at all. she goes for 'rules or war' and 'rules of peace' without clearly telling anyone how to do their job right.

fireheart wrote:she just says to thank the part for their work in the past and that it's no longer needed.
It just sounds like a pre-recorded thing - not genuine. I also thank the others all the time, but before they see and feel that their past defenses are no longer necessary, just saying it won't change anything.

Is she saying that their work is no longer needed, or THEY are no longer needed?? There's a big difference.

And have you said that exact thing to the T--that it sounds pre-recorded and not genuine? I think that would be important to let her know about.

Just yesterday, with my T, we were talking about how Watcher is feeling like their job isn't needed anymore, and what are they supposed to DO?? And the T said they would always be needed--that would always be important to watch and make sure outside people were safe, and to let the rest of us know. And that there were times we might need to be protected from feeling something. The T was very clear that Watcher would "never not be important."

Also, why would you focus on the ANP in therapy?? We have more than one of those, anyway. Daily life is handled by several different parts, sometimes working as a team. The parts who mostly go to therapy are not the grownup (older teen?) parts who mostly present to the outside world--it's the younger, more emotional parts who need to connect with and be accepted by the T right now. Older ones can email with him, or write to him in the journal, but the younger ones really need to be in his presence and be seen and heard.

Anything that doesn't feel right to you, isn't right, at least at this point in time.

Hi Gang,

Great insights as usual. If you don't mind, we'd like to add more thoughts.

TheGangsAllHere wrote:

fireheart wrote:she just says to thank the part for their work in the past and that it's no longer needed.
It just sounds like a pre-recorded thing - not genuine. I also thank the others all the time, but before they see and feel that their past defenses are no longer necessary, just saying it won't change anything.

Is she saying that their work is no longer needed, or THEY are no longer needed?? There's a big difference.

Agreed, there is a difference. But some in the system may perceive the statement as a rejection because they don't see the difference or agree with it.

TheGangsAllHere wrote:Also, why would you focus on the ANP in therapy?? We have more than one of those, anyway. Daily life is handled by several different parts, sometimes working as a team. The parts who mostly go to therapy are not the grownup (older teen?) parts who mostly present to the outside world--it's the younger, more emotional parts who need to connect with and be accepted by the T right now. Older ones can email with him, or write to him in the journal, but the younger ones really need to be in his presence and be seen and heard.

Understood. Depends on the system, of course. In our system, non-traumatized folks need to be heard too, oftentimes with regard to how they're dealing with the traumatized ones. In cases like that, it helps us more if the ones needing to talk do so face-to-face rather than in email. Our system only uses email if a traumatized person is too afraid to talk face-to-face. Or if we need to provide T with documents or information.

Also, in our system, we have traumatized people who are very prominent in dealing with daily life. Charity and Rachel (both adults) are two examples. This is why we've always balked at the notion that ANPs handle daily life and EPs don't.

TheGangsAllHere wrote:Anything that doesn't feel right to you, isn't right, at least at this point in time.

Absolutely!

MDs