Online Dissociative Disorders therapists in California
We are proud to feature top rated online Dissociative Disorders therapists in California. We encourage you to review each profile to find your best match.
Dissociation is one of the brain's most powerful tools to cope with threatening memories or information. A little dissociation can be healthy, but for some folks, they may begin encountering blank spots in their memory or the feeling that they are acting radically different in various situations. By calming the nervous system and processing underlying trauma, these dissociative symptoms can be alleviated.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LCSW, Psychotherapist, Psychoanalytic Candidate
As a psychoanalytically trained therapist, I delve into the unconscious mind to understand and treat dissociative disorders. Dissociation, where a person experiences a disconnect from their thoughts, emotions, or memories, can often stem from past traumas. Through our work together, we'll gently explore these unconscious memories and hidden emotional conflicts that contribute to dissociation. By bringing unconscious experiences to light, we can facilitate communication and integration between fragmented parts of the self, ultimately promoting healing and a stronger sense of wholeness.
Dissociation is the mind's defense against persistent or severe trauma and neglect. It is when a person disconnects from their thoughts, feelings, memories or sense of identity. This process is an amazing defense/survival mechanism, but it also leads to patterns that interfere with normal functioning. Ego-state work, combined with EMDR works to heal the profoundly painful impact of this type of trauma, and leads to significantly enhanced resilience and the ability to experience joy, love and belonging - both internally, and in relationships with others.
When we dissociate from our bodies or the environment, our system is often attempting to protect and regulate itself from overwhelm. So we need to explore what is overwhelming the body and nervous system, and how to best respond. I also recommend a deep distress tolerance practice here--learning to accept and be with ourselves no matter how we are showing up.
Dissociation in and of itself is not pathological. However when one has experienced or is experiencing extreme stress, anxiety, trauma or other challenges, dissociation may become significantly disruptive in one's life and even cause significant personality change. I utilize an integrated approach incorporating parts work (IFS), psychoeducation, and EMDR therapy to increase sense of safety, reduce overwhelm, and increase one's window-of-tolerance for the here-and-now.
I am a psychologist, marriage family therapist, bioenergetic analyst, and psychoanalyst with more than 30 years of clinical experience in treating adolescents, adults, and marital couples. I am skilled in helping a person to feel understood and related to in a new and helpful way.
Through my advanced trainings in trauma and dissociation with the ISSTD, I have developed the passion and skills to assist people struggling with DID and other dissociative disorders. I understand the unique challenges dissociative disorders pose in day to day life. Using a variety of techniques, we will explore the origins of your challenges and work on tools to help with healing and coping with your struggles.
Sometime in the past, you were exposed to something, or a series of somethings, so radically alarming that your mind and body and spirit could not remain integrated. You split apart in order to survive. And as the threat subsided, you connected back to yourself, but fractures remain, and you never know when a new stressor will send you into a dissociative state once again. You don't have to live your life, floating like a ghost behind, and above your body, witnessing it all from afar. Let's heal your dissociation, and mend the inner schisms.
Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Individual, Marriage, and Family Therapist (LMFT)
Dissociative processes can often be hard to put into words and even harder to understand the experiences that lead to the symptoms developing. Through an eclectic approach combining Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Somatic approaches, and psychodynamic approaches, we can find the relief you are looking for.
Licensed Psychoanalyst, PH.D., IN PSYCHOANALYSIS AND NEUROSCIENCE, CERTIFIED PSYCHOANALYST, PSY.A, & LICENSED PSYCHOANALYST
Dissociative Disorders occur when the mind is overwhelmed and needs to "check out." This is an automatic process, especially when the person has nowhere to turn for relief from their suffering. Then the mind does its job to protect the person by disconnecting and "going" elsewhere. Dissociative Disorders are almost always the result of trauma, some type of traumatizing experience. In my experience, these kinds of disorders require long-term treatment 2-3 times per week. Just being present in the room with the patient is where I start. Creating a very safe environment that is conducive to talking about your experiences. As the patient begins to experience a safer space I will add the supplements, diet and exercise, and the creation of special "flow experiences" for the patient. You are welcome to call my office at 661-478-0667 for an evaluation.
Dissociation can show up in many forms - from mild "highway hypnosis" or "spacing out" all the way to the creation of separate identities, and everywhere in between. Dissociation can be a very effective form of self-protection....right up until it isn't. I can help you with the use of CRM feel safe enough in mind and body to heal the wounds that led you to dissociation.
Sometimes in life, an experience so traumatic happens that my psyche splits and cuts off part of myself in order to protect myself from what happened. It was a defensive mechanism at the time of the trauma to protect me from my incapacity to process it, but now its also created a situation where part of me is cut off from the other part of me. If I stay this way, I remain stuck in a fragmented or wounded place psychologically. The reality is we all want to be whole and part of healing may involve a process of reintegrating all the parts of myself with each other. If you think you may be dissociating, call us. We would come alongside you to help you.
Trauma can live in the body unaddressed for a lifetime. It impacts every aspect of the person’s experience, from health concerns to psychological instability to insecurities in achieving life goals. Working through trauma is the single most important piece in establishing a more harmonious life perspective. Adults often can’t identify the source of their anxieties because it is buried in childhood experience. Or, they know the source, but addressing the impact of trauma has been elusive.
Whether you identify a single traumatic experience in your life or you experience the result through a highly strung nervous system, trauma can be addressed through working with the sensations of the body.
I was originally trained in Somatic Psychotherapy and have over 25 years of working with the language of the body. This is done through mindful observation of the body’s experience in the here and now and through expressive art and movement therapy as well as talking through the event itself. The resolution comes from a place of self-love and resiliency is built by building support in one’s life.
These disorders call for therapies which have prove successful in encountering them and which will be selected based on the personality, characteristics, and needs of the client.
Significant trauma may lead to the onset of a dissociative disorder. Our work together can help work on managing the significant emotional distress and trauma and improve affect tolerance.
Dissociation is a protective mechanism of the reptilian brain (brainstem) that can manifest in adaptive or maladaptive ways in
human beings. As your therapist, I will facilitate grounding using all available senses and experiences to bring you into
the here and now. The next step is exploring the adaptive and maladaptive ways you sever from the present
moment and in response to which cues or triggers. We will then learn how your internal system of parts operates in order to let it guide case conceptualization.