Today we share this poignant excerpt from the Dr. Jamie Marich therapy training for DID Understanding Dissociation: An Insider’s View on Helping Dissociative Clients.
You can start learning from Jamie right now with our FREE therapist webinar, “Not Faking: Dispelling the Myths of Dissociation.” This full hour with Dr. Marich goes deep, and is packed with gems and tools you can use with your clients immediately.
Free Therapist Webinar on Dissociation
In this webinar and moreover in her full-length course, Jamie will share her vast experience working with DID. She is a therapist living with dissociation and loves to share a professional insider perspective that helps any therapist work effectively with dissociation.
Mr. Marich challenges the myths that dissociation is rare and intractable, and helps us navigate an ever-changing landscape of awareness (and misunderstanding) about dissociation.
DID Training for Therapists:
Course Excerpt with Jamie Marich
Jamie: Friends who are clinicians come to me, and they say, “Jamie, now every teenager on my caseload thinks they have DID because of TikTok.”
To which I respond, “Okay, have you explored it?”
Is Dissociation Disorder Real? Is it just a fad?
Jamie: There can be this tendency to dismiss it as just a fad, like Doc Martens were a fad. I don’t think any discussion of a disorder or mental health concern should be labeled as a fad. Perhaps we’re just getting better at identifying it.
From my perspective, I’d rather see something over-diagnosed and discussed, or over-identified and discussed, than ignored. What good would it do to try and talk this teenager out of it?
Instead, maybe some education around dissociation and parts could be helpful.
Helping Teens Understand DID
Jamie: We can acknowledge that we all experience dissociation to some extent, but it may not necessarily reach the level of a disorder. ´So, please don’t feel like you have to label yourself automatically. I’m curious, what is it about this creator’s content that you relate to?´ That can lead to some amazing conversations.
Do we need to expose “fake dissociation”?
Jamie: I must say, the establishment that studies dissociative disorders seems highly concerned with exposing fakers. For instance, in movies like “Primal Fear,” there’s a case of someone faking a dissociative disorder to escape responsibility.
There’s this strong need to prove to the scientific community that people with dissociative disorders are real. It reminds me of the panic when it comes to believing survivors of sexual assault; some are afraid of being deceived by attention-seekers.
But, statistically speaking, those instances are quite rare, and we shouldn’t dismiss everyone else’s experiences because of that fear.
Is it “real trauma” or “fake trauma”?
Jamie: Another concern I hear is that we’re over-labeling trauma, leading to the possibility of missing those who have genuinely experienced trauma. But defining “real trauma” and “real dissociation” can be complex.
Sure, we can examine these things more diagnostically when necessary, and I can share some resources for that later. However, my fear is that survivors of trauma might hear this rhetoric and start doubting their own experiences, thinking they don’t have “real” trauma or that their level of dissociation and parts don’t matter compared to others.
Continue to learn from Jamie Marich with instant access to her new free dissociation training where she talks about…
- Why therapists don’t know much about dissociation (or assume that only specialists can work with it) and how to change that
- How the media misrepresents dissociation and its impact on therapists’ comfort in working with dissociative clients
- Overcoming fear and transforming it into effectiveness in working with dissociation
- Breaking down clinical jargon and professional distance to better help individuals who dissociate
- The importance of including the Dissociative Identity Disorder community in the conversation (“Nothing about us without us”) and holding ourselves accountable
Jamie Marich, Ph.D., (she/they) is a clinical trauma specialist, expressive artist, writer, performer, short filmmaker, Reiki master, TEDx speaker, and recovery advocate. They bring together all of these elements to inspire healing in others. Jamie is a woman in long-term recovery from an addictive disorder and proudly lives with a dissociative disorder. Their goal is to break the stigma surrounding dissociation in the mental health field and in society at large.
Jamie is the author of 11 books on EMDR, trauma, arts, and dissociation, including Trauma and the 12 Steps: A Complete Guide for Recovery Enhancement, Dissociation Made Simple: A Stigma-Free Guide to Embracing Your Dissociative Mind and Navigating Life, and Healing Addiction with EMDR Therapy: A Trauma-Focused Guide with Dr. Stephen Dansiger. They are the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness and the creator of the Dancing Mindfulness approach to expressive arts therapy and Yoga for Clinicians.
