# The Four Stages



## Guest (Feb 14, 2012)

What can be done to treat dissociation? There are four main stages of treatment:

1) Establishing safety; 2) Trauma resolution; 3) Cognitive restructuring; and 4) Life skills development.

1. Establishing safety (both externally and internally) for the survivor, means his/her ability to feel safe in his/her environment and manage extreme emotions.

2. Trauma resolution to help remove the psychological pain that has accumulated through repeated traumatic experiences. Remembering one's traumatic past is not the key to overcoming dissociation, it is removing the pain of the trauma.

3. Cognitive restructuring to help the survivor remove from his/her mind negative mental conditioning and to acquire new ways of thinking that are more realistic and functional.

4. Life skills development includes self-assertiveness training, stress-management, managing emotions and creating a new lifestyle.


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

For traumatic dissociation, it usually goes safety, then coping and life skills, then working on trauma then resolution. Gotta get the stability down pretty well before doing trauma work, the formal stages of therapy reccomend having a meaningful life and supports etc before starting in on trauma work


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## society's parasite (May 13, 2012)

Thanks to both posters.
Now i'm wondering,how is that done, establishing safety and setting up a meaningful life?
Pesonally, i honestly don't know where to find safety and have no idea how to find any meaning in life either.

And as for trauma resolution and learning life skills, where can this be done? What place, for example, offers help in this?

(..Although my login name may sound negative, i chose that name in fact out of some bitterness and sarcasm, i should change it, for my questions are meant quite seriously.)

Thanks for answering..


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## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

society said:


> And as for trauma resolution and learning life skills, where can this be done? What place, for example, offers help in this?


I think you will find Dialectical Behavioral Therapy helpful to you in these specific areas...esp learning life skills. Try to find a therapist in your area that uses this kind of therapy and get started if you can.


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

behavioraltech,net (.com?) might have a listing of DBT therapists. isst-d.org has a listing of trauma and dissociation therapists


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