Dissociation, Trauma, and the Adaptive Response

Individuals experiencing dissociation during therapy sessions may struggle to connect with their emotions due to past trauma, which requires therapists to be patient and gentle in supporting the gradual unfolding of their thoughts. The severity of dissociation is not linearly correlated with the number of traumas experienced; there is a significant jump in dissociation levels when moving from three to four types of trauma. This suggests that dissociation was an adaptive defense mechanism for individuals overwhelmed by traumatic experiences in childhood. This phenomenon is also observed in PTSD symptoms, where there is a notable increase in severity when moving from three to four types of traumas. Individuals coping with childhood trauma by dissociating may have large gaps in their memory as a way of protecting themselves from overwhelming experiences.