When you feel disconnected from yourself
Dissociative Disorder Support Across The North East
Therapy that helps you understand your experiences and feel safe enough to reconnect with yourself.
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Understanding dissociative disorders
The mind finds ways to protect itself. Dissociation is one of them.
Dissociation is a mental process in which a person becomes disconnected from their thoughts, identity, memory, or sense of reality. It is understood as a coping mechanism: when an experience is too overwhelming to process, the mind creates a kind of distance from it. This can happen to anyone, but when dissociation is frequent, severe, or disrupting daily life, it becomes a condition that needs support.
Dissociative experiences fall on a spectrum. At the milder end, people may feel as though they are watching themselves from outside their body (depersonalisation) or that the world around them is unreal (derealisation). More complex forms include amnesia, where important personal memories become inaccessible, and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), which involves disruptions in identity and sense of self. Dissociation is most commonly linked to past trauma or abuse.
Therapy for dissociative disorders focuses on creating safety, processing the underlying experiences that gave rise to the dissociation, and building a more integrated and stable sense of self. This work is careful and paced, and our therapists are experienced in working with complex trauma presentations.
Common signs
How dissociative disorders shows up, and what can help
Common signs
- Memory gaps or periods of time you cannot account for
- Feeling detached from your body or thoughts
- Sensing that the world around you is unreal
- Vivid, intrusive memories of traumatic events
- Difficulty concentrating or staying present
- Mental fog or a sense of being on autopilot
- Confusion about your identity or sense of self
- Unwanted, distressing thoughts that are hard to control
Therapies that can help
Different people respond to different approaches. Your therapist agrees a personalised plan with you, which may draw on:
- EMDR therapy
- Trauma-Focused CBT
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
- Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)
The Pathway Team matches you to a therapist experienced in supporting people with dissociative disorders, at your chosen location.
A simple first move
Not sure where to start? Talk it through with the Pathway Team.
Who you might work with
Therapists with expertise in supporting people with dissociative disorders
Browse the full team, or let the Pathway Team match you.
When to reach out
You do not need to understand it fully before seeking support.
If you are unsure whether what you are experiencing has a name, that is not a barrier. Many people come to therapy without a clear label. A conversation with our Pathway Team is the place to start.
It is especially worth reaching out if you are experiencing memory gaps you cannot explain, a chronic sense of detachment from reality, confusion about your sense of identity, or a history of trauma you have not yet had the chance to process. Our Pathway Team can match you with the right therapist.
Where we offer this
Support for dissociative disorders across the North East
Questions before you start
What people usually ask
1 What is the difference between everyday dissociation and a dissociative disorder?
Most people experience mild dissociation at some point, such as daydreaming or losing track of time. A dissociative disorder is when dissociation becomes frequent, distressing, or disruptive to daily life. This often develops in response to trauma, abuse, or other overwhelming experiences that the mind found too difficult to process at the time.
2 Is dissociation temporary or permanent?
Dissociation can be temporary if triggered by a recent stressful event and subside once the stressor passes. In conditions like Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), it can be more persistent and become a recurring part of daily life. With the right treatment, people can significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of dissociative episodes and improve their quality of life.
3 Can dissociation affect memory?
Yes. During dissociative episodes, memory can become fragmented or blocked. Some people experience gaps in time they cannot account for, or find they have no recall of events that happened during an episode. In Dissociative Identity Disorder, memory gaps can occur between different identity states. This is one reason why working with a specialist therapist is important.
4 How can I support someone who is dissociating?
Stay calm and speak gently. Avoid touching them without asking, as this can intensify the episode. Offer grounding prompts such as asking them to name what they can see or hear around them. Encourage them to seek professional support, and take care of your own wellbeing too. Learning more about dissociation can help you offer more informed, patient support.
In the meantime
Small things that can help right now.
- Use grounding techniques: name what you can see, hear, and feel
- Focus on slow breathing to bring yourself back to the present
- Keep a journal to track episodes and identify triggers
- Build a daily routine for stability and predictability
- Talk to someone you trust when an episode passes
- Learn about dissociation to feel more in control
From the blog
Helpful reading on this
Small Steps, Big Changes: How EMDR Therapy Helps Reclaim Your Life from Trauma
Trauma is not processed in the part of the brain that handles talking, which is why EMDR takes a different route to recovery: it helps the brain reprocess stuck memories so they lose their emotional charge.
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Understanding EMDR Therapy: A Practical Guide to How It Helps
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is an evidence-based therapy that helps the brain process and resolve traumatic memories using bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements. Unlike CBT, it works bottom-up — targeting trauma held in the nervous system. It is effective for PTSD, anxiety, phobias, and grief in adults and young people. Select Psychology offers accredited EMDR therapy across the North East and online.
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How to Solve Family Problems and Build Stronger Relationships
Learn how to resolve family conflict, improve communication, and when to seek professional support. Practical guidance from Select Psychology.
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How Does Family Counselling Work? A Practical Guide for Families
Discover how family counselling works, what happens in sessions, and what to expect from start to finish. Practical guidance for families.
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