The women who come for WIIT are often very frightened by what is going on inside themselves. They are depressed, angry, hurt, confused. They suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, they have trouble sleeping, they see pictures or hear voices, they make unhealthy relationship choices, their marriages or families are in trouble. Some have been involved with drugs, alcohol, sexual acting out, bingeing/purging, compulsive spending, etc. Most are bothered by suicidal thoughts or feel very tired of life.
What is dissociation?
What WIIT taught me was that dissociation is a gift that everybody has to help them survive overwhelming events. They also taught me that it is a separation of the body and mind which occurs as a result of trauma... the body is trapped in the traumatic event, but the mind escapes. This is a highly developed survival skill which is recognizable from outside the victim by a fixed gaze with a slow or non-response to external stimuli or a marked change in mood, affect, and/or behavior.
What is "Incorporation Therapy?"
Incorporation Therapy is a proactive approach to the stabilization of the internal crisis and chaos that is the hallmark of those suffering from Dissociative Disorders. The approach is two pronged. These are very intelligent and creative people. It is their very intelligence and creativity that allowed them to "escape within themselves" when they were small and physically defenseless. So there is a strong didactic component to the program which helps them to understand how and why they got the way they are. This accomplishes a number of things. To begin with it helps them to begin to realize that they are not "crazy" and that they might possibly be able to get well. It also starts to take some of the terror out of their experiences and frees them to begin to talk about what's really going on inside them. At that point they can begin to learn some techniques to help them stay grounded and present... On the other hand, since these women have relied so heavily on their cognitive system for survival, it is best to work with them therapeutically from an emotional approach. Incorporation therapy focuses on the loss of self in the trauma episode. Therefore, the identification, acceptance and forgiveness of self are important if the patient is to gain a healthy internal relationship with self... In the final stage, Incorporation therapy is a patient driven revisiting technique that allows an individual to recover what they had lost during a traumatic event and to resolve the emotional component connected to a memory of traumatic loss.
WIIT
WIIT treatment reduces and stabilizes the internal crisis and conflict that go on inside the trauma survivor. They can help you get through stuff that would take a long time in outpatient therapy. Then you can return to your therapist calmer and much better able to take advantage of their help.
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