Many people imagine trauma therapy as focusing on processing traumatic memories. They are often surprised to learn that memory processing is actually the second phase of trauma therapy.
Why Trauma Therapy Is Often Structured in Phases
If you have ever experienced a flashback, trauma memories can be overwhelming to the nervous system. In fact, they can be so overwhelming that attempting to process them too quickly can lead to re-traumatization. The phase approach to trauma therapy attempts to prevent re-traumatization by focusing first on stabilization.
Phase 1: Stabilization
The stabilization phase of trauma therapy is focused on safety. Skills and strategies are identified, developed, and practiced in this phase to be used in the actual trauma processing. This includes being able to regulate the nervous system and emotions and to be able to identify when your nervous system is approaching overwhelm. This allows the traumatic memories to be processed in phase two in a controlled way that reduces the risk of re-traumatization. For dissociative systems, this phase also includes developing and improving internal communication and cooperation between system members.
Trauma memories are often contained behind dissociative barriers in dissociative systems. Before the protectors of the system are going to cooperate with your desire to process traumatic memories, they want to know that you and others in the system will be able to tolerate those memories without overwhelm or decompensation [https://www.communidid.com/when-a-dissociative-system-collapses/ ]. In this way, phase one directly supports the processing of trauma memories.
I want to emphasize that Phase one work is not “busy work.” It is real therapy and it advances system functioning even before trauma memory processing. It is foundational for traumatic memory processing and may take longer than people expect. In some cases, people with systems never advance beyond phase one because the focus continues to be on stabilization of their daily life.
Phase 2: Trauma Processing
Phase two, trauma processing, is where people often imagine starting in therapy. This can be one reason parts of a system oppose therapy initially. Once they are assured that therapy starts in phase one, parts are often more open to participating.
In this stage, the focus is on working directly with traumatic memories. This phase, too, may be slower than people imagine. The speed is dependent upon the individual’s ability to tolerate the content. For memories which are a 10/10 on distress, they may be processed two seconds at a time, or one detail of the memory at a time. In this way, the individual is not overwhelmed by the magnitude of the traumatic memory. Memories which are not so high on the distress scale may be processed more quickly. It is all determined by the person’s capacity to tolerate distress. The skills and strategies practiced in phase one come into play here and work to support that capacity. For this reason, it is important that phase one is not rushed through.
Phase 3: Integration and Life Development
Many trauma survivors never work through Phase three. In this phase, the bulk of the trauma processing work is done. This phase is focused on strengthening the functioning of the individual. It might seem counter-intuitive, but healing can be destabilizing at times. In the case of trauma, especially for dissociative systems who either complete final fusion or who have achieved cooperative coexistence, life is experienced quite differently than it was before therapy. And how the person sees themselves is likely quite different. For example, at the time they entered therapy, they may have believed their caregivers that they were “too needy.” After processing the trauma, they may need to spend time in phase three re-examining themselves and sorting out what they were told about themselves from what is actually true. This is also a time when skills that were not learned growing up can be learned and practiced.
Therapy Isn’t That Regimented
Although we talk about phase one, two, and three, therapy in practice is not quite so separated. Each phase has its own focus (stabilization, memory processing, figuring out life on the other side of trauma), but it is never purely that. These phases are not rigidly separated. For instance, while working in phase one, an individual may have an intrusive memory that is causing great distress. In this case, it would make sense to address that memory so that it was not dysregulating the person. In phase two, it may become apparent that a skill needs a little more work or a strategy needs to be developed before continuing on with memory processing. In either phase, some work may be done that is thought of as phase three work.
Why This Matters for Dissociative Systems
A phased approach to trauma therapy is especially important when dissociative systems are involved. Different parts of the system may have different levels of readiness to face traumatic memories.
Dissociative barriers may prevent some system members from accessing particular memories. If those barriers are forced open too quickly, the result can be overwhelming for the system. Systems may decompensate [link] and functioning may be severely impacted.
Stabilization helps build the communication, cooperation, and emotional regulation needed for traumatic memories to be processed safely. For this reason, trauma therapy for dissociative systems often moves slowly. The goal is not simply accessing memories, but doing so in a way that maintains stability and safety for the entire system.
Key Takeaways
- Trauma therapy is often structured in phases to reduce the risk of re-traumatization when working with traumatic memories.
- Phase 1 focuses on stabilization, including safety, emotional regulation, and learning skills to manage distress.
- In dissociative systems, stabilization also involves building communication and cooperation between parts, which helps protectors feel safer allowing memory processing later.
- Phase 1 is not “busy work.” It is real therapy that improves functioning and prepares the system for safe trauma processing.
- Trauma processing in Phase 2 often moves more slowly than people expect, sometimes working with memories in very small pieces to avoid overwhelm.
- For dissociative systems, the goal is not simply accessing memories, but processing them in a way that maintains stability and safety for the entire system.
Explore More
- Therapy and DID: Finding Safe and Supportive Healing — an overview of what trauma-informed therapy for dissociative systems typically involves.
- The Three Phases of Trauma Therapy
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