How Our Dissociative Parts Work Together For Us In Times of Crisis (A Lesson in IFS)

[@dawnfreshour8425]

Refreshing to see a mother who understands and supports her daughter's mental health, rather than causing, blaming, & shaming her for it. Hats off to ya, and the best of luck to you & your daughter.

[@colleenjohnston1678]

@dawnfreshour8425 thanks for your comment! I feel so lucky to have such a creative and talented daughter. I appreciate you watching!

[@kishorsheta8478]

Ooooh wow my dear ji superb thanks ji

[@fredontime]

It helps (me/us) categorize internal feelings and thoughts. Understanding more about where the thoughts/feelings are coming from helps to manage their expression. Each identity just wants to be understood. Understanding is very powerful both internally and externally. 🙏

[@queenkhong]

Saw myself in this video. Didn’t realize my mindless scrolling was actually a form of hypoarousal. But it’s exactly what it is. I appreciate your providing me with this mirror.

[@starlingswallow]

Same here, Queen! Same here ❤

[@seandardis]

This is definitely helpful and very valuable information. I had never had names for these compartments but have definitely detected the existence of the Exile and the Firefighter. I never picked up on the middle compartment of the Manager, but yes, that now makes a lot of sense after you pointed it out, especially having the manager between the other two. I totally agree that sometimes the manager becomes over-involved: sometimes by pushing the exile away even into further exile, or calling in the firefighter (or SWAT team all depending, lol) too quickly. Great illustrations, both pictorially and verbally. Thank you very much for sharing this valuable information.

[@starlingswallow]

Thank you for this description and the illustrations are wonderful!! I journaled through this video as to get a better grasp on the parts and what their jobs are. IFS, for me, is a bit hard to grasp....figuring out which parts are what.... I REALLY appreciate this video! I'm in trauma therapy atm and working with a trained IFS practitioner. My whole inner and outer world has been changed with this modality and MUCH healing has happened over the last few weeks!!!❤❤❤

[@colleenjohnston1678]

Wonderful!! Thanks for sharing your good news!

[@richmac6345]

Is the exile the true self? I've known for years that I have a missing part... I call it the human part. I'm unable to connect emotionally with people so I avoid them but desperately want to recover the human part??? Thanks

[@colleenjohnston1678]

Great question Rich. IFS teaches that "Self" is what we're all born with and when we are accessing it we experience the positive qualities of compassion, connection, creativity, calm, etc. We are also all born with "parts" and they develop and shift over the course of our lives. Therefore, the "exiles" are carrying the negative stories and unreleased emotions. I help people gently have awareness of those parts and also to provide kindness and curiosity to the exiles. The managers and firefighters are protective, including ones that want to avoid. They are trying to help the system avoid being harmed (again). Hope this clarification helps! Therapy can be a great way to help sort this out. And thank you for watching!

[@MsKingwa]

Hello, thank you for your insightful videos. Do you do online parts work sessions? Grateful if you could inform me on how you may be reached, and your session rates. Best

[@colleenjohnston1678]

Hello and thanks for your kind feedback and interest. I am only licensed to practice in New York State...

[@lovelyella]

Still don’t understand how this relates to dissociation… could you provide some clarification or point me to a video that describes how these parts interact in dissociation? I’m suffering with DP/DR and trying to understand it in terms of parts.

[@colleenjohnston1678]

Hi, and thanks for your comment. I can see why the IFS model isn't helpful for DP/DR specifically. My understanding is Schwartz's IFS model creates some organization for types of parts and helps make sense of our sometimes drastic changes in emotional states. Some people with DID find it helpful and some do not! There are a few recent videos I made that may be a bit more on track with what you're looking for. One is about telling the difference between DP and DR, and the other is on some techniques to help ground and stabilize when you dissociate. You can find them here on my channel and also on the Playlist I created all about dissociation. Hope those help!

[@lovelyella]

@@colleenjohnston1678 thanks for replying… Perhaps this is a mislabeled title… as you mentioned in your comment, this content is more an intro to parts work… you made no reference to how this relates to dissociation in general which is my question. I kept waiting for you to tie it together with how these 3 parts play into dissociation, but I don’t believe there was any mention of dissociation in the video. Hope this clarifies more.

[@lovelyella]

@@colleenjohnston1678 Additionally I think IFS and SE are the primary modalities to be of help to me. I have CPTSD which as you know includes general dissociation. I do have DP/ DR episodes, so descriptions aren’t necessarily helpful for solution, as I’m already living it. If it can help with MPD, I’ve heard Richard Schwartz discuss it with the spectrum of dissociation to full DID… so I am remaining hopeful that modality can in fact help me. ❤️‍🩹

[@lovelyella]

@@colleenjohnston1678 Additionally my diagnosis is CPTSD which as you probably already know, includes dissociation… it can sometimes escalate to DP/DR due to a recent additional trauma. Since I live through it, general descriptions aren’t necessarily helpful to my recovery. Richard Schwartz refers to full DID treatment in IFS, so I’m still hopeful of the model, just didn’t understand your video. I remain hopeful that IFS and SE work are the appropriate protocols for my condition. ❤️‍🩹

[@colleenjohnston1678]

@@lovelyella I wish you well on your healing journey! Thanks for sharing here. 💜

[@nathanbernards]

Content warning for suicide talk would have been nice, sorry

[@Watcherwash85]

Over and over…and time lost