A Couple of Multiples: The Reality of Living with Dissociative Identity Disorder

Building Bonds & Creating Trust Between Selves in Dissociative Systems

Jul 30, 2024

Join Drew and the Garden System as they share their journey of nurturing trust among their multiple selves. They discuss the dynamics of leadership within their dissociative system and the fascinating origins of their fictive identities inspired by a beloved book series. The hosts unravel the complexities of internal cooperation and safety planning, particularly emphasizing the needs of their littles. Their personal stories highlight the significance of compassionate communication and creative strategies for fostering healing and collaboration.

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ADVICE

Acknowledge and Listen to Inner Selves

Acknowledge the existence of inner selves and their needs.
Regularly remind yourself to work together and listen to each other internally.

INSIGHT

Prioritize System Needs

Internal cooperation is key to overcoming DID challenges.
Prioritize the needs of the whole system, even if individual selves have to compromise.

ANECDOTE

Origin of Garden System's Fictives

Garden System's fictive selves originated from the "Wheel of Time" book series.
Their leader, Leanna, naturally assumed the role due to her fictive world leadership position.

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Drew & Garden System, a couple living with Dissociative Identity Disorder, share personal stories of how they helped all of their selves develop trust and compassion for each other. Building bonds between all selves helps bring about internal cooperation and internal peace. They also dive into more detail about their fictive selves and how those developed within their systems. This includes the formation of roles that the selves took on to ensure safety and functionality, and how those roles evolved over time, such as system leadership. NOTE: They also have carefully and mindfully included specific personal examples of how this might look for someone that has experienced mind control and/or ritual abuse towards the end of the episode.

Please visit https://acoupleofmultiples.com to sign up for our mailing list where you can learn more about our online community for those living with a dissociative disorder, their supporters, and mental health professionals.

We are honored to have a gold plus sponsor for season 2! The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is one of the largest EMDR Therapy training programs in North America, founded and directed by Dr. Jamie+ Marich, author of Dissociation Made Simple. Dr. Jamie is the only EMDR therapy trainer who is "out" as a plural, and since 2015 she's offered the full EMDR Therapy basic training in a way that honors lived experience and destigmatizes dissociation in clinical work. We have never felt more accepted and validated as a multiple than when we were able to show up authentically as Garden System for our basic EMDR training. Having lived experience is valued and respected in these training courses. Go to www.instituteforcreativemindfulness.com for a full list of upcoming trainings, both online and in-person, offered by Dr. Jamie and her selected network of EMDR trainers.

Thank you to our bronze sponsor, Alix Amar LCSW, who offers weekly Creative Art classes including the Creative Journal, Soul Collage and Altered Books, all on the Zoom Platform exclusively for people living with dissociation. For more information check out her website at alixamar.com or her Facebook page "Dissociative Creative Explorations".

Are you interested in becoming a sponsor? Please send an email to admin@acoupleofmultiples.com to request more information.

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Visit our website: acoupleofmultiples.com to sign up for our mailing list, join our private, on-line community Hearts Multiplied, register for peer coaching, consultations, and workshops!