After surviving complex trauma in childhood, some people understandably want to eliminate uncertainty. This is often not possible, so one approach to making decisions without certainty is to make the smallest decision possible and then observe the outcome from it. This will provide you with information you can use to determine whether your decision is working for you or whether you may want to make some adjustments. The information you gather can also help you determine where or how you might want to make adjustments.
For example, if you are trying to decide if you can trust someone new in your life, you might start with sharing a very small personal detail to see how they respond to it. If they respond respectfully and consistently over time, you might later share something slightly more vulnerable. If that also goes well, you might eventually try asking for support with something small or setting a minor boundary and seeing whether they respect it. In this way, trust is built gradually through many smaller experiences rather than one large leap of certainty.
This page is part of the Moving Forward with Dissociative Identity Disorder section of the CommuniDID site, which explains how forward movement can look in dissociative systems, including managing conflicting priorities, building a life alongside ongoing symptoms, and developing a sense of future.
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