Interview with Brian Moss: Qualities and Information Useful for a Therapist and a Client Working with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

[news reporter]

Interview with Brian Moss: Qualities and Information Useful for a
Therapist and a Client Working with Dissociative Identity Disorder
(DID)

permission to post

Modified from version originally posted in the Survivorship Journal
Vol. 18, Issue 2 December, 2012 at survivorship.org

PERSONHOOD

TOLERANCE FOR AMBIGUITY
Integrating a trauma narrative, especially if it is the result of
sophisticated mind control procedures, is a complex and lengthy
process where subjective states (hypnosis, drugs) and manipulated
states (electric shock, psychic-driving, sensory deprivation, sleep
deprivation) are mixed with objective states (veridical memory of
ritual/sexual abuse or any other experiences meant to terrorize.)

CAPACITY TO DISSOCIATE
There is a difference between “forgetting” and “forgetting that you
forget”; one insulates us temporarily as we metabolize our experience
while the other prevents us from fundamentally accessing our
experience. The capacity to dissociate in a healthy sense allows us to
live our lives in spite of what we know—to balance the terror of being
alive with the wonder of being alive. There are so many ways to get
derailed: cynicism and anger, despair and hopelessness, or the false
relief of numbness.

TOLERANCE FOR ISOLATION
All of us, survivors and therapists alike, got to where we are in
stages. Painful truths that do not correspond to what we have been
told about the world require new understandings that only gradually
come into focus. In sharing what we have learned and/or remembered,
there is deep frustration that in telling our most urgent truths we
are not believed.

AT LEAST ONE TRUE “INTIMATE”
Whether spouse, partner, mentor, friend, find someone that can handle
the material and understand the larger and hidden truths of what you
are learning. The reality behind DID is a “through the looking glass”
experience and is a journey best not taken alone. Therapy is difficult
when the client is lacking outside support or dealing with an
unsympathetic spouse/partner. Clients that are still embedded in the
deviant social networks responsible for their original abuse have an
enormous challenge facing them.

A SUBSTANTIAL DEGREE OF DIFFERENTIATION
A significant moment in my early childhood occurred while I was
watching the television adaptation of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds.
There is a scene in which the creatures have landed and are zapping
everyone. A priest comes forth, holds up a bible and is incinerated on
the spot. I remember thinking, “Are they allowed to do that?”
Differentiation from family, religion, dominant paradigms of any kind
including television, mainstream media, and society in general—gives
us the ability to think independently and to tolerate the withdrawal
of approval or ridicule that is often the reaction to doing so.

INTEREST IN CONTROVERSIAL/FORBIDDEN AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE
Many DIDs have teams of parts that are used to research psychic
phenomena. These psychic skills are exploited in a variety of contexts
including military and intelligence work. It was eye-opening for me to
see the seriousness with which this research is pursued covertly while
being overtly ridiculed in conventional academic settings.

ABILITY TO DISCERN DISINFORMATION
Quality disinformation must contain a high degree of truth or it will
be rejected outright. The goal of disinformation is to present pieces
of the truth in a way that leads to the wrong conclusions. The other
purpose is obfuscation in general. There is an overwhelming amount of
disinformation on the internet and in our media. Who would have
guessed that when Orwell’s “Ministry of Truth” finally arrived we
would embrace it as “Wikipedia”.

COURAGE TO FOLLOW THE CLIENT’S LEAD
Abandoning their clients’ experience in order to preserve their (the
therapist’s) comfortable view of the world is the same dynamic
survivors experience at a societal level. Survivors want—and need—to
be believed. No-one is afraid of the dark itself, they are afraid of
what might be in the dark. Survivors know what is in the dark. They
want to tell their therapists; they want to leave the scenes behind;
they want to end the dissociation. They want—and need—to know it is
over. It is essential that therapists do not let them down. This takes
courage as well as expertise.

APPRECIATION OF LIFE’S ABSURD MOMENTS IN ORDER TO DEFEND AGAINST
CYNICISM AND THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING
One of my teachers had a story that I heard him tell often. It was a
true story he read in the newspaper about a man who had given up and
climbed a bridge preparing to jump. A crowd formed in anticipation of
the spectacle and the police were called who, in their best manner
tried to negotiate with and talk the man down. Getting nowhere,
running out of ideas and becoming increasingly frustrated, one of the
officers pulled his gun and threatened to shoot the man unless he came
down. The man climbed down. It is important to understand that not
everything can be understood.

ABILITY TO PERSEVERE IN THE FACE OF SOCIETAL DENIAL
Judith Herman named it in Trauma and Recovery: “The study of
psychological trauma has repeatedly led into realms of the unthinkable
and foundered on fundamental questions of belief.” There will be
polarization occurring in society as more and more information comes
out and more survivors come forward. There will be attempts to
discredit survivors and to misinform and censor content for those
seeking information but to no avail. There are too many survivors and
they will continue to speak their truth in an ever increasing chorus.

A BELIEF SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS FOR EXISTENCE OF THE SPIRITUAL
Most DID systems contain spiritual guides or transcendents capable of
guiding the work of healing. DID survivors benefit from therapists who
are comfortable with these realities. The transcendents, by their very
nature, are beyond the reach of programming/conditioning and remain
untouched by mind control techniques much as the Sun does not cease to
exist simply because a cloud moves in front or the earth revolves.

BELIEF THAT LIFE HAS MEANING
In enduring or bearing witness to the desecration of every value the
belief that life has meaning frames the ability to go forward rather
than fall into despair. What I have noticed both for myself and the
therapists I work with is that when we are willing to know, and not
turn away from darkness, a corresponding light enters our life to help
balance and navigate it.



KNOWLEDGE

UNDERSTANDING OF SYSTEMS THINKING
Systems theory addresses the whole, including the relationships of the
parts of the whole to each other. It does not simply focus on the
individual parts in isolation. The concept of wholeness, the
integrative process, is the essence of all psychological growth—not
just Dissociative Identity Disorder alone. The word “therapy” derives
from the Greek word therapeia meaning “to heal”; the word “heal” from
the Old English word hælan meaning “whole”. “Integrate” derives from
Latin, integrare, to make whole, from integer, complete.

UNDERSTANDING OF UNCONSCIOUS PROCESS
In terms of unconscious process there is an important distinction to
make between repression and dissociation. Traditionally, therapists
received training in which experience not consciously available was
seen to be a kind of primitive unconscious regulated largely by
primary process thinking and regression. (Repressive model) Contrast
this with concealed experience and memory systems (DID) that are
coconscious, where parallel states are existing with a variety of
levels of development, some more healthy or competent than the
presenting personality! Knowing the subtleties of unconscious
perception, and how they are named, informs the therapist and empowers
the client.

UNDERSTANDING OF SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE
Consciously unacceptable material is camouflaged in symbolism. As it
is metabolized, dissociated information will become more
representational and less symbolic. When information is transmitted
symbolically the degree of symbolism used will depend on the tolerance
of the system for the material being depicted. When the information
needs to be defended against, the defending alter will either not be
present or will filter the 4 information symbolically. As integration
takes place there is less need for symbolism and both dreams and
artwork become more representational.

UNDERSTANDING OF THE TRUE ETIOLOGY OF DID

Complex DID systems are not simply a response to trauma and stress—
even horrific trauma such as ritual abuse, though it does have a role
to play. Nor is it caused iatrogenically by well-meaning therapists
attempting to treat trauma survivors as Wikipedia would have us
believe. DID is mind control, intentionally practiced and requiring a
great deal of effort and conditioning over a period of many years. To
develop an elaborate DID system is to endure an ongoing medical
procedure throughout childhood, one that requires clinical settings
with access to extensive equipment and pharmaceuticals.

At the turn of the century there were indeed cases of “split
personality.” These cases were observed by Pierre Janet in Paris;
Breuer and Freud in Vienna; F.W.H. Myers in London; and Morton Prince
in Boston. These initial cases were found to be the result of trauma
in childhood but rarely produced more than a few alter states and
often just one. Childhood incest does not lead to elaborate DID
systems.

Modern DID bears no resemblance to these early, primitive cases but is
instead the outcome of a century of covert research on these
dissociative states and their successful creation and exploitation.

This statement has caused the most discussion yet is critical in
understanding the true causes of present-day Dissociative Identity
Disorder. So what is Mind Control Programming? I use the concepts
programming and mind control interchangeably. All DID systems are the
result of mind control and programming techniques. I want to clarify
this statement; it is very important and has serious implications. The
mind does indeed dissociate naturally both in normative contexts
(selective attention) and in response to trauma—but dissociative
states do not self-organize into elaborate systems with the levels of
complexity that we are seeing today—that is something that requires
interference from without. Modern cases of DID demonstrate hierarchy
and are structured to meet a variety of demands. This is never random,
or entirely a response to trauma, though trauma is used to create and
maintain the compartmentalization in DID. These parallel conscious
states, each exhibiting their own conditioning, are what we call
alters.

That DID is manufactured in its present form needs to be acknowledged
in order to understand features of DID that would not otherwise make
sense and also to account for the politics of this diagnosis with its
troublesome implications regarding our world. Multiple Personality
Disorder (MPD), now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), is
the result of a century of covert research on these naturally
occurring capacities of the mind. This is where our field truly “leads
into realms of the unthinkable and founders on fundamental questions
of disbelief.”

Throughout history, exploitation and control of some members of
society by others is a continual theme. This control can be subtle, as
with the manipulation of peoples’ belief systems through propaganda
and religious dogma, or more direct and heavy-handed as with threats
of persecution or violence. One of the simplest means of control is to
maintain the powerlessness that comes with basic poverty/indebtedness
or the lack of access to quality education. A key dynamic with the
more overt forms of control is that when people are oppressed—they
resist. Advanced forms of control address this fundamental dynamic by
developing forms of exploitation that remain largely outside of
conscious awareness both for selected individuals (DID) and the larger
society (control of the public is achieved through propaganda and the
manufacture of consent, an increasingly serious threat with the
concentration of media).

Mind control evolved from two main foundations:

1)  The Soviet discovery of conditioned reflexes (Pavlov 1903) and
continued research within the field of behavioral psychology.

2)  Advances in understanding the creation of parallel dissociative
states with independent memory systems and control mechanisms
utilizing research in hypnosis and trauma-based splitting of conscious
processes.

UNDERSTANDING THAT EFFORTS TO CREATE DID IN CHILDREN WERE NOT SIMPLY
EXCESSES OF THE COLD WAR IN THE NAME OF NATIONAL SECURITY
Disturbing as it is, we must acknowledge the ongoing nature of these
activities. Clients are sensitive to any backing away by the therapist
and are reluctant to fully disclose when they fear they won’t be
believed. Clearly, people who would torture children, for any
perceived agenda, are sociopathic. What they are after is a type of
power that is outside legal or ethical constraints and better
described as organized crime, no matter the context in which it is
framed.

UNDERSTANDING ISSUES RELATING TO ALTERS
Over-identifying with the innocent child alters and avoiding the mean
and destructive ones maintains division and conflict within the
system. Developing a fascination with certain alters, or with the
process of switching itself, is another way to become triangulated
into the system; there is no reason to encourage switching— most alter
systems can be accessed while keeping a sense of co-consciousness with
the normative section. DIDs can parallel process to an extraordinary
degree and this ability can be utilized to integrate without losing
stability.

AWARENESS OF BLENDING VS. SWITCHING
Many clients and therapists expect a more dramatic presentation
(switching with lost time) and miss important system shifts because
the client remains co-conscious. When an alter, or programming is
behind, alongside or blended with the front system, the changing
quality of consciousness may present more subtly. Most alter movement
taking place in a therapist’s office (unless the client is severely
destabilized) involves blending with no loss of time.

DISCERNMENT REGARDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STABILITY AND INTEGRATION
The front/normative section is designed to be free from interference
and highly functioning as long as the covert aspects of the system
remain unknown and there is compliance with the demands of the
programmers/handlers. Programming is designed to maintain stability
through compartmentalization. Paradoxically, it is the more effective
therapists, who begin to make inroads into the deeper structures, who
find themselves inadvertently destabilizing their clients. This
“success” can trigger programming. (Dissociated trauma scenes and
conditioned self-destructive behavior.) Overt stability is not the
same as integration.

UNDERSTANDING OF DEEPER STRUCTURES OF DID
While allowing for some variation, most programming follows standard
protocols. The front/normative section is designed to be free from
interference and highly functioning as long as the covert aspects of
the system remain unknown and there is compliance with the demands of
the programmers/handlers. Many therapists deal with leaking or
triggered trauma scenes related to sexual abuse and ritual abuse
without ever getting to the deeper structures and teams involved in
covert activities or the programming responsible for it. The trauma
scenes act like a mine field keeping these deeper structures and parts
hidden and compartmentalized.

RECOGNITION OF THE DOUBLE-BIND IN MIND CONTROL
As with all double-binds the only way out is to acknowledge the bind
and transcend it. There is no way to resolve the situation if it is
accepted as presented. The basic feature of false choice programs is:
“I stay safe and comply with programming/training or I resist and
trigger trauma scenes.” It is not either/or; alters should be made
aware that both sides of the dilemma are manipulated and all parts of
self can come to the present and be free of the demands.

UNDERSTANDING THE NEED TO WORK “FROM THE OUTSIDE IN”
Trauma programming is layered. A good visual image to illustrate this
concept is the children’s game of Mikado or “pick-up-sticks”—the
outermost sticks must be removed before attempting to move underlying
ones. When working to dismantle programming any interference
encountered must be dealt with before proceeding. Not to do so is like
pulling a stick from the middle of the pile and activating multiple
layers of conditioned responses at once—something guaranteed to stop
any further progress and destabilize the client.

UNDERSTANDING THAT EMOTIONAL CATHARSIS IS NOT NECESSARY FOR INITIAL
MEMORY WORK
There are two basic forms of memory: explicit memory and implicit
memory. Explicit memory is what most people are referring to when they
talk about memory; it records consciously available information about
past experiences. Implicit memory is information that is not
consciously available and was encoded outside of conscious awareness.
Abreaction and triggering can be understood in terms of implicit
memory. The sense of self and self-control that accompanies explicit
memory is lost when a trauma memory is an implicit recollection. The
difference between these two forms of memory must be acknowledged to
understand the basis of trauma programming.

AWARENESS OF POSSIBLE SURVIVOR CONTACT AND SABOTAGE BY HANDLERS
All survivors are monitored internally via programming that is
designed to force compliance or initiate reporting to programmers/
handlers in the event of non-compliance. Of greater concern and missed
by many therapists is that survivors are also often contacted and
sabotaged by the people in their present life—even survivors well
along in their recovery; this includes people (often family in
generational cults) known to the survivor as well as unknown handlers
able to access alters outside the awareness of the normative
personalities.

A CLOSING STATEMENT FROM BRIAN:
The chance to share this information with you is my pebble in the pond—
maybe reaching you on the far shore. Don’t doubt that there are many
survivors whose voices have been heard, and many therapists who know
the truth about what is going on in the world; all of us working
quietly (or out-loud) to make healing possible for each other and to
create the world we know is possible.

Brian Moss, MA, MFT is a Clinical Fellow and Approved Supervisor of
the American Association of Marriage & Family Therapy. He lives in the
Seattle area and consults widely, specializing in working in
partnership with DID clients and their therapists.

http://ritualabuse.us/research/did/interview-with-brian-moss-qualities-and-information-useful-for-a-therapist-and-a-client-working-with-dissociative-identity-disorder-did/