Plural Positivity World Conference 2019

How we got from the first documented case study in 1584 to where we are now: A brief history of DID, an explanation of the unfolding diagnosis through the history of the DSM, and an introduction to modern issues in the clinical world. The benefits and limitations of the ISSTD and related organizations will be explored, and updates on the most recent research will be given, as well as reasons for recent changes in research to be explained. A call for renewal will be issued, in effort to bridge the gap between the clinical and survivor communities, and this call to action will address current clinical issues including appropriation, oppression, and the rights of plurals in treatment and as a community of survivors.

What are the issues for plurals in other areas of the world? What is access to medical care, therapy, specialized programs, specialists, etc. like? What is the cultural climate like around the world when it comes to accepting or rejecting plurality? How is plurality, in general, portrayed in the media in your country? Do you have any positive examples of plural acceptance in your area or region? What frustrations do you have about US-centric or English-centric literature, studies, focus, etc.? How can your country improve in terms of plural acceptance and inclusion? Do you have any advice for non-US plural systems?

Being plural for any reason comes with a long history of stigma, rejection, fear, mythology, and misconceptions. Whether to come out is often a choice with being authentic in the external world and can sometimes carry a high price. What are some of the experiences folk within various plural communities have had with coming out?

Several presenters join Crisses & Stronghold in a livestream and take questions from the audience and submitted prior to the conference.

AISOAVV (As Inside, So Outside & Vice Versa) — how can you stand up for yourselves if you can?t fight for your rights? How can you fight for your rights if you can?t stand up for yourselves? Buck will take us on a journey through a spectrum of internal and external advocacy and activism, how working on one affects the other inherently, and things that the Plural community needs to do to up the ante on caring for our own rights as individuals within the system, as individual bodies within external society, and challenges we face as a movement when facing the establishment.

This session will focus on issues of marginalization within the plural community, micro and macro aggressions across various groups. How to recognize our own areas of privilege and marginalization as plural systems and the systemic oppression which affects us all in different ways. Increasing understanding of each other as systems from different etiologies or mixed etiologies can help bridge the community and allow for more of a positive and productive discourse.

Humanity has been here before: the pivot point between disparate separate communities, all being oppressed in similar or overlapping ways, and the moment where they start to talk to one another to see whether they can find any common ground, and whether they can unite under a banner to have a louder voice and help all of the groups under the banner. It doesn?t always go smoothly, but we can look back in history and clearly see this having happened before. With forethought, and mature action, we can deliberately pool resources and set aside differences and take massive action.

Where did the terms ?traumagenic? and ?endogenic? come from? What was the original intent? A reading of the article by the plural system who coined the terms, and a request to return them to their roots.

Tulpamancy - the practice of deliberately creating new system members, i.e. tulpas - is a practice subject to many misconceptions and misunderstandings, from both non-plurals and other plurals. This session seeks to dispel some of these myths, and give a broad background as to what tulpamancy is, what tulpamancers/hosts do, and what the community currently looks like. It will provide an overview of the history of the community, its origins, current and former practices, and techniques used by tulpamancers. Other forms of plurality will be compared and contrasted. Time will be made available for Q&A.

In this session we share everything we wish we had known when we were diagnosed. We share our personal experience, including our lows and our highs, alongside facts about DID and OSDD. We talk about what causes DID. We discuss what healing DID means and talk about the Three Cs: Communication, Co-operation and Co-consciousness.

Is Dissociation Such a Bad Thing? — Therapists commonly vilify all forms of dissociation; whether mild or severe. Featuring a discussion of the definition of "dissociation", the history of the word, and how the current understanding of dissociation by professionals is not adequate: based on both our experiences and psychology papers. Finally we will talk about when dissociation becomes maladaptive, and how to define that in a person/system-centered way.

What are the 3Ds? How to recognize them, come down from them, how to cope with self denial, especially when still coming to terms that you are apart of a system. What diagnoses they can occur in, how they are triggered, people?s different experiences of these issues, and methods/tools to ground yourself back into your body and reality.

Not everyone on the planet can find or utilize a therapist. Some plurals have to go it alone, for many reasons, including being sub-clinical in terms of distress, or the frustrations of finding a plural-positive professional to work with for unrelated issues. We?ll go over the reasons for going it alone, cautions and caveats, how to translate the known steps of recovery from C-PTSD into selves-help, and various DID difficulties into an overview of how to bootstrap your recovery, and when to leverage alternative therapies or professional therapists if you have limited resources.

This material is intentionally challenging! This is intended for plural systems who are dealing with internal adversity, but are not in crisis. CONTENT WARNING: Curse words, reframing internal point of view, perspective or lens shifting, role-reversals. Buck describes this as a 201 or 301 session — not DID issues 101. From an internal persecutor?s point of view, and speaking primarily to other plural system rebels, Buck discusses resistance to getting along, & why he decided it?s better to go along with and protect the internal team, fight other people, & advocate against external systemic injustice instead. Includes role creativity, adjusting perspective, treating life as an adventure, onboarding and working on co-consciousness and communication, getting some residents unstuck, getting to know (new) residents, letting go of old roles, and taking on new roles. You& may want to listen to Buck?s episode 009 ?Welcome to DID: We are not your enemy? of the Many Minds on the Issue podcast New before this session.

Authenticity is living comfortably in your own skin, it takes work for each individual person. However, Discovering your Authenticity as a Plural helps in its own way to clear pain, support each other, honor everyone's strengths and weaknesses equally, and bring together a Healthy Plural Life.

Discussing roll-calls, headmaps, self-maps, system diagrams, & internal landscape maps — what they are, who they?re for, how to document, how to use them, how to get started, how to evolve them, how to use them to make internal changes & more. Bring at least a partial list of your headmates to this workshop — it doesn?t have to be everyone — and plenty of paper or a drawing application, and your writing instruments of choice. You& may be inspired!

We talk about the therapeutic processes of (self-)hypnosis and how it can affect an innerworld. We?ll discuss how to hypnotize yourself, how to stay safe while under hypnosis, how to create a safe space in your innerworld. And many other rooms and innerworld ideas, you might not have have thought of implementing yet. We also share tips and tricks, like self-(post) hypnotic suggestions and tools which worked great for us. This video does not contain any form of intended hypnosis and has clear disclaimers.

Therapeutic boundaries, presence, handling the space between trauma-work sessions? how to throttle trauma work, take control of what will be worked on, owning the process, deescalate therapeutic backlash, etc. coping techniques for settling down after sessions.

Traditionally therapy has inherited a "doctor knows best" approach where the client, a helpless patient, seeks out an expert savior who can make them better. This disempowering approach is especially harmful for people who have been repeatedly traumatized. Over the years, many therapists have increasingly adopted coaching techniques into their practices to help empower their clients, transform the therapeutic relationship, build rapport faster, and attain more client investment in lasting results. What lessons from life coaching techniques can be brought safely and easily to therapy by either the therapist or the patient — and why? Content Advisory: This session is intended for therapists. There is no content in this session specific to plurality. It relates to the call by Dr. E/Emma and Buck/Crisses for changes in the therapeutic relationship, and empowerment of clients, and thus relates to the message of the conference for empowerment, inclusivity, respect, and improving treatment of plurals who seek out therapy. There are also many plural therapists who may find this session interesting for improving their own practices.

What is the Polyvagal Theory - and what is it NOT? Why is is such a big deal? What does it have to do with trauma and dissociation? How is it helpful for survivors to understand, and how is it often misunderstood or misapplied by clinicians? Learn the history behind the latest development in neuroscience, and get the story behind the latest rage in research.

What's wrong with being plural for life? Much of the professional industry is changing from a unification/fusion model to a ?healthy? multiplicity model, and some are following the outdated ISST-D (2011) 3-step procedure for treating people with DID. In addition to discussing this advancement in the industry, The Crisses suggest a model that not only stabilizes the client, but deliberately sets them up with an internal support system and on the road to owning their recovery. Please keep in mind, this session is mainly intended for therapists or researchers — a proposal for testing out new ideas for the industry.

Are you wondering if it's safe to have kids? Do you find parenting as a plural challenging? Do you wonder when and how to open up to them as a plural? These are some tough questions to struggle with when you're plural. I know the struggle as I am plural too. I am a single mom of four biological children and one foster son. I'll be sharing my own experiences with each of these questions and what we do to make it work.

There needs to be art out there that plural systems can see themselves in, because without it the unspoken message is that one is entirely alone in this, and it just isn?t true. People in the middle of discovery and recovery especially need stories that reflect their experiences. Stories and art are a powerful backbone of culture and language, and they can help you through a dark time, or remind you that you are not alone. That?s why we need art. Join Emmengard, creators of the Blobbies, a comic about the plural, and specifically the DID, experience. They will give an overview of art and content that is explicitly plural.

Jean has been running a website by (S)RA survivors, for (S)RA survivors since 1995. She carries a lot of wisdom and she will share some of it with us while we debunk some common (S)RA myths. We also talk about the benefits of connecting with other survivors.

What is it, what qualifies, and how do you take charge of your health when you never have had to do so before. Doctors and medical buildings can be a scary place, especially if you don?t know what to expect. So, for those of you who are just starting out in finding out medically and mentally what is wrong, these are some tips that I wish I would?ve know before starting.

Jim, as a Singlet, has come to develop his own understanding of Plurals from his personal experiences and thoughts as an expert-by-experience in supporting plural systems. Each person experiences their world differently. He will give examples of different ways for lovers, partners, spices, friends, caseworkers, advocates, allies, and peers to help support people who fit under the plural umbrella. He will cover basic concepts about how different system might work, & talk about some of the myths, especially the media-induced myth of violence.

Having DID can be very tough to navigate and many don?t realize that veterans may also have DID as well. We will talk about the challenges of navigating a system that wasn?t set up for people who have been abused and how you as a person can take charge of your VA healthcare. We as a system are open to any questions you may have regarding the VA system and how we as a system got diagnosed.

Sarah& Clark interviews PrincessProto about the creation of the #Pluralgang and their unexpected journey into Plural Activism. We also talk about different kinds of plurality and what all those different terms mean!