Dissociation, PTSD, Homeopathy, Therapy: What to Do, What to Do?

by Kathryn Berg | Aug 3, 2023 | Uncategorized

Dissociation is a coping mechanism that some people use to deal with overwhelming experiences. Experiencing trauma can also cause one to dissociate. When you are dissociated, you are generally disconnected or detached from your thoughts, emotions, sensations, or surroundings. In otherwords, you are disconnected from yourself. Is dissociation ever necessary?

Dissociation is a common way for people to deal with #PTSD and #CPTSD. However, you cannot remain in that state all the time, thankfully, and you are eventually forced to connect to the world around you and the world inside you. That reconnection is not always a joyful experience, and often is as traumatic as the original experience.

Who Dissociates?

If you have no idea how you felt in a particular situation, what sorts of emotions you experienced, or what your physical or emotional sensations were, you probably dissociated at some point to get through the experience.

I recently listened to a podcast interview with US Women’s Soccer player Megan Rapinoe. Her stories of dissociation got me thinking about when it is useful, when it is not and how do we know what to do? When is it really dissociation and when are we just responding to something in a healthy way?

First, let me share a summary of the interview.

Since the Women’s World Cup is now upon us, there was discussion about the last Women’s World Cup in 2019 when then-President Trump “Hate-Tweeted” Megan Rapinoe. She didn’t let it bother her. Ignoring nasty words sounds like a good plan to me, especially when you have the World Cup on the horizon.

That story segued into the fact that she had started seeing a therapist sometime between the last World Cup and this one, knowing that she was likely going to retire after the 2023 World Cup and wanted the transition to be easier.

She found out that she has been Dissociating. A Lot. She felt like it helped her get through being a professional athlete. From the pain of losing to the pain of, well, being an athlete in a very physical game.

It turns out that a lot of athletes and first responders dissociate.

It reminded me of a client I had many, many years ago. He was an ER nurse. He came to see me due to having “bullet proof” insomnia and constipation. I gave him a well-matched remedy and he began to sleep more soundly, and his digestion improved dramatically.

But you know what else happened? He found his job in the ER to be almost impossible. The remedy healed his tendency to dissociate, and he had been using that “skill” to make it through his job. It enabled him to work through witnessing all the trauma that comes with working in an ER.

He was good at his job. He was good at dissociating. It all started from an abusive childhood.

What To Do, What To Do?

What do we do when we need people to fill those jobs as ER professionals, EMT’s, Police officers, etc. They do need to develop a way to “get used to” what they see and experience. What happens when they learn to dissociate outside the job too? What happens when they can’t “unsee” anything and develop PTSD?

By the way, many people who choose jobs like this already know how to dissociate from their upbringing or a traumatic incident.

I Have a Solution

First, start with homeopathy so that the body and the vital force learn how to exist in the present moment.

It is a situation where repetition of the remedy would likely be required, especially at first. Homeopathic remedies work on an energetic basis and repeated exposure to a situation that was healed with a remedy can be an obstacle to cure. But a daily dose of the remedy can keep the healing in progress.

Once this is established, I would recommend working with a therapist to learn how to deal with the situations from which one would normally dissociate. This would be crucial in the healing process as well.

What Next?

Do you recognize yourself in this article? If so, schedule a complementary consult and lets talk.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/dissociation.html (viewed 7/22/23)

Meet Kathryn Berg the Classical Homeopath at Lotus Homeopathy, Inc.

Some of you know me, others of you may have heard of me. And for most, you probably have no clue about me or my business. So I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself, my family, my business, why I am a homeopath and how I became a homeopath—not necessarily in that order.

Like many people, I found out about homeopathy accidentally. I fell down while walking my Akita pup on an icy sidewalk on a typical Minnesota winter day. I was scheduled to go to a friend’s house later that day, so when I did, I asked her for some ice. You need some Arnica, she told me. Arnica? What’s that? She explained that Arnica is a homeopathic remedy for trauma.

At the time, the only place to get homeopathic remedies was a book and herb store in South Minneapolis. So I went there to get some. When I got there, I decided I should read some books so I actually knew what I was doing. I left with the Arnica 30c and three books. By the time I got done reading them, I knew I wanted to be a homeopath.

It was only several years later that I realized that I was attracted to homeopathy as a profession because I am a problem solver. It is what drives me. There is nothing like a well chosen homeopathic remedy to solve problems.

At the time I decided to become a homeopath, there wasn’t even a school here in in Minnesota. But eventually, my homeopath and his business partner started the Northwestern Academy of Homeopathy. I was a graduate of the third class. At the time I went there, it was a part time program taking three and a half years! Since then I have studied with numerous other well known and respected homeopaths in continuing education studies.

While I do work with all sorts of folks with a variety of conditions, I really have studied how to treat people suffering from PTSD, health issues related to aging women, and children’s health issues of all sorts, including autism. I have also been successful in removing blockages to healing due to suppression of symptoms by western medicine. I chose those specialties because people really suffer who have those forms of dis-ease, and Western Medicine doesn’t seem to have much of a solution for them.

After over twenty years of practice, I still get excited for clients when a remedy has helped them heal.

So that is about my business. Now, a little bit about me.

I have two adult sons in their early twenties, so I have shed the title of “Soccer mom”. My husband and I are empty nesters living in Woodbury, MN. For fun, I like to play piano, sing, sew, garden, hike, and travel. I am in a community choir. I also enjoy cooking healthy meals and, out of necessity, am an expert at cooking for special diets.

If you have any questions about homeopathy or my approach to homeopathic case taking, please feel free to put some questions in the comments below.

If you have a health issue you need help with, please click the Book Now button on my Facebook page or Main page of my website and schedule a complementary consult to see if homeopathy can help you!

Thanks!