Mapping in Therapy

Hi All,

I've been dxed with DDNOS. I think I'm quite fragmented but I don't lose time - not big chunks anyway. I'm just wondering if all of you lovely DID people do / did mapping as part of your therapy or if that is just one approach?
Neither my psychologist nor psychiatrist use mapping so I'm wondering what other methods are utilised. I'd be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks, Zel.

ZeldaZonk wrote:Neither my psychologist nor psychiatrist use mapping so I'm wondering what other methods are utilised.

What methods do they use to keep track of your system? Or don't they care?

Mapping was a critical part of therapy for us, and even though it has been added to as time has gone on, it remains a very important tool.

I would question the same things as Una, it has been our experience that mapping is a crucial part of therapy, agreed on by many world renouned experts.

A therapist, GOOD therapist is so key in sucessful therapy....good luck!

First I was instructed to read! Knowledge never hurts.

Then came the diagnosis of DD-NOS and then finally DID (although therapists are really stuck on the part of how much time do you loose.)

Then the therapist wanted to meet an alter. So she tried imaging, but as soon as she began to speak one came out to greet her. [imaging for me is not needed. One is always ready and willing to emerge] A young one with PTSD, terrified and was having convulsions.

Immediatly - After meeting her she said - after I was back...

"The next step is Mapping"

However to do this you must first work on communication.

This book Coping with Trauma related dissociation is helping me a lot with that and my therapist is reading it too.
Here is my list on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/lm/RK7E1DT6G789F/ ... m_all_itms

I also made tapes to listen to in the morning and at bedtime to communicate with them. The tapes were long and at least one always showed up to listen and participate. I can give you a sample script. Just record something like it in your own voice. PM me if you want it. My therapist had me do this to work on my "inner child/true self" before the diagnosis of DD-NOS, but the alters loved the tapes so I kept doing it.

So far I have had 5 show me their images. They communicate better when the tape is off, but they love the tapes and in them I give each of them the love and care their own "inner child/true self" needs.

It's hard to get them to talk, at least it was for me. Talking is different too with each.
Mostly - pay attention. Be quiet and allow them to communicate with you. I like to do this after a tape. This whole process takes a very long time though.

Una+ wrote:What methods do they use to keep track of your system? Or don't they care?

Hi Una, That's a good question. I need to ask my psychologist. I haven't been to see her for a while, I'm a bit P.O'd with her actually but that's another story. I think she encourages parts to speak so that we can see why they are there and respect their role etc. I guess she thinks mapping is too "concretising".?

My psychiatrist wasn't too interested. I think she thought I was saying I have DID which I wasn't.
She said something like "well it would be so easy to separate all the bits out and call them names..." I didn't quite understand what she meant. I'm not good at responding in the moment so I didn't ask her there and then but I will.

Thanks for replies. Tylas, I will check out that book.

My psychiatrist has some but apparently not extensive experience with DID. He has a colleague he consults with and, soon after we had sure evidence of my DID, he said his colleague recommended having a map of my system of alters. I had heard about these and this reassured me.

How can you visit a new city if you don't have a map? Each of us is a new city you've never been to before. Do you just wander blindly from street to street? End up going around in circles a bit, no big deal? Completely miss key historical landmarks? Don't bother to notice some streets are grouped into neighborhoods? Keep finding yourself in dead ends? Well, you could, but then how are you going to help us find our way out?

Johnny-Jack wrote:How can you visit a new city if you don't have a map?

Thanks Johnny-Jack,
without having much knowledge about all this, I tend to agree.

I'm doing it in my head anyway. It's just what I'm naturally driven to do now that I'm aware of what's going on. I found this blog about mapping that I think is interesting and shows that you don't have to make everything permanent and concrete.

http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/disso ... he-system/

Best, Zel.

ZeldaZonk wrote:
My psychiatrist wasn't too interested. I think she thought I was saying I have DID which I wasn't.
She said something like "well it would be so easy to separate all the bits out and call them names..." I didn't quite understand what she meant. I'm not good at responding in the moment so I didn't ask her there and then but I will.

Does your psychiatrist and therapist believe in DID? Do they have any experience in it? Mine specialized in PTSD and Dissociative Disorders, but had never ran across someone with DID before.
Even DD-NOS is confusing to them because for most of us it is exactly the same as DID except either we don't loose time or we don't know we do. I

I saw in the DSM V - that they are making a new description for DD-NOS and changing the DID one a bit. Hopefully its more helpful than what they have now.

http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevision/Pa ... spx?rid=57

-- Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:07 pm --

[quote="tylas"]
Does your psychiatrist and therapist believe in DID? Do they have any experience in it?

Thanks Tylas,

They definitely believe in the disorder. I don't know how much experience they have in it. I'll ask my psychologist. Her main interest is trauma. My psychiatrist doesn't really do much therapy. More just chatting and meds.

My psychologist does really deep stuff - or she would if I'd let her
/I have a very controlling / protective part that makes it really hard because she pretty much stops me from showing emotion in front of anyone.
I'm a bit concerned that my psychologist never (as far as I know) suspected DDNOS/DID actually.

The revised DSM criteria fits me better than the last one.

"Inability to recall important personal information, for everyday events or traumatic events, that is inconsistent with ordinary forgetfulness." - this confuses me. My most traumatic events occurred in early childhood when one may not expect to have many memories anyway.

In my understanding, the thing that precludes a dx of DID for me is that I don't have "contemporary amnesia"

I've made an appntmnt with a psychiatrist who specialises in this area. I've never seen her before so it will be interesting.

Best, Zel.

ZeldaZonk's last post is actually new/updated, but because of the new forum upgrade, it doesn't show the post as being new... so bumping this thread