Trauma Informed Stabilisation Treatment (TIST)

When ego states are in harmony, an individual’s personality is considered whole and integrated and this will support a life that feels rich, productive and enjoyable.

However, experiences of trauma can cause ego states to become split off or fragmented from each other. When this occurs, we can find ourselves stuck in particular ways of responding to the external world that are unhelpful, unconscious and outside of our control. In such circumstances the wisdom, maturity and balance of our adult Self becomes inaccessible to us.

For example, a survivor of child abuse or neglect might find that young traumatised ego states which functioned to support survival during childhood, cause the adult survivor to be stuck in victim roles that are no longer adaptive.

In TIST, we work with the emotional and somatic memories held by young parts of the Self that developed in response to the trauma.

These young traumatised parts, highly adaptive in a maladaptive environment, continue to be triggered in the here and now as adults. Using the Structural Dissociation model as a map, clients are supported to use the prefrontal cortex or observing brain to notice distressing emotions or negative thoughts as communications from parts. The client is taught to observe rather than suppress or react to these communications and to be interested in the parts rather than rejecting of them. As they learn to relate to their fears or shame or anger or suicidality as the feelings of young traumatized children, there is a shift in their relationship to themselves.