In plain language, dissociation is what creates safety and ultimately pain relief in the moment of need. Trauma deeply impacts a person’s psyche, extreme limits are pushed, and extreme reactions become necessary.

awfulness. This obsession among trauma therapists with the “problem” of dissociation is highly troubling. It gets blamed for everything. It is a symptom of problems. It is also a reasonable and understandable survival response. My own dissociative impulses were some of the most creative and sensible adaptations that I made as a child and young adul