Hmm...My therapist seems to be trying to work with the inner kids. I think going to try to have a twice-daily conference with the kids, just to see what's going on.

Never heard of it - tell me more.

From what i understand there are exiles, firefighters and managers. The hurt little child that is feeling so much pain is the exile. The part that hurts me when I start to feel that pain is the firefighter and he acts before the manager can do anything to manage those feelings in a healthy way.

Right now I'm more familiar with the firefighters that try to protect me from the feelings. The part that overeats, the part that drank or used drugs, the part that hurts myself would all be firefighters.

Sounds interesting.

I really hope it works for you..... firefighters hey?




I seem to have some arsonists and some sirens lol

Hello Loum,
It shows that your therapist is well trained into treating PTSD, which many are not.
There is an excellent book ,although a bit technical,It explains very well the working of the mind and brain, how traumatic memories function, the neurobiological aspect of it which is so important to understand to see how and why we react the way we do and it goes through all the newest therapies, including Internal family systems therapy.
Title of book: Treating complex traumatic stress disorders by Christine A; Cortois.On Amazon, you can look inside the book and already learn a lot.
One of the world specialists who has produced a lot in research is the Dutch Doctor Bessel Van Der Kolk.He is in the USA www.traumacenter.org
Doctor Salmona from Paris,a psychiatrist specialised in psychotherapy and traumatology has publIsHed very enligthening articles on traumatic memOry anD the role of the cortex OFthe amygdala.unfortunately it is in french and google translation is not good.
I will post later about it.

Thank you, I did look the book up and it looks very interesting. I cannot look inside with my tablet, but I will later on my computer. I did look for a therapist that would have the training and experience that would meet my needs. She specializes in adults abused as children and dissociative disorders and has a PsyD. It's hard to make an opinion after 2 sessions, but I am starting to developed some confidence in her. This is my 5th therapist, but I'm still nervous about seeing her. We are still feeling each other out and I'm trying to be as honest as I can with her, but I can sense that my defenses are still up. I guess I'm as comfortable as I could expect to be at this point. She has me doing an assignment for her and I can see how feelings immediately bring up thoughts of what I could do to avoid those feelings. It is very interesting.

I have the book, per my therapist's request. She want(ed) to do IFS with me. I am dealing a lot with the firefighters. I'm not sure what I think about it.