Dissociation and PTSD

My soul exchange in 1999 occurred during a dissociative state and I’ve learned that dissociation due to traumatic experiences is a common response to distress. I’ve asked my friend and colleague, Dr. Caron Goode, who provides wonderful support and encouragement to me on my spiritual journey, to share her insight. She is a nationally-certified counselor with membership in the American Psychotherapy Association. As a spiritually-advanced person who has successfully integrated the influx of purer vibrating energy she received during her walk-in experience in the 1990s, Caron brings much wisdom to this topic.

Dissociation and PTSD

Caron notes that PSTD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is prevalent among those who have been in war zones, experienced physical or emotional abuse, or had a near-death experience or other intense upsetting situation. “When stressed, men and women tend to respond differently,” says Caron. “Men tend to act out and show aggressiveness. Women tend to withdraw and dissociate. Dissociation can be mild like daydreaming, fantasizing, or losing time when driving, watching television, or absorbed in a good book. The more distress, trauma, or pain a person experiences, the more serious a dissociative response can be. Some have difficulties in identity, like feeling so detached that they view themselves as a robot. Other problems include lack of memory and over-sensitivity in feelings and empathy, all of which most walk-ins experience. This is why focusing on integration and recognizing the way energy works is so important. Understanding how the mind, emotions, and body work in conjunction with the soul’s purpose makes integration easier and less stressful. It permits you to have more compassion for yourself while growing into the higher self.

“While people in other cultures sometimes have dissociative experiences in the course of religious (in certain trance states) or other group activities, these ‘spiritual experiences’ are finally becoming accepted in Western cultures. And while some walk-ins have entered through such an experience, the ability to identify with the body, feel emotions, and take charge of the integration process may not be easy. One of the issues facing individuals during the ascension process is the level of distress stored in the brain/body and the unknown compartmentalized memories that can pop up any time. Here’s why.

“Recent studies of trauma indicate that the human brain stores traumatic memories in a different way than normal memories. Traumatic memories are not processed or integrated into a person’s ongoing life in the same fashion as normal memories. Instead, they are dissociated, or “split off,” and may erupt into consciousness from time to time without warning. The effected person cannot control or “edit” these memories. Over a period of time, these two sets of memories, the normal and the traumatic, may coexist as parallel sets without being combined or blended. These traumatic memories still need healing, and they can also pop up for the rest of the time you inhabit the body.

“Much healing and integration work can be done through energy transmissions and healings. However, the integration process is so much easier when the person can feel, read, and know what is happening on an energy level. What a clairvoyant may see as done or an energy healer pronounce as healed means nothing if the effected person is not cognizant of the process, and cannot translate those events into time and with personal meaning.

“A walk-in is here to take charge of the brain/body system, integrate the scattered soul fragments, and evolve into wholeness that will allow a mature expression of spirituality. To be fully empowered, enriched as a human being, and fulfilled in the work you came to do, the foundation is living and “being present” in the body. Spiritual teacher Ajaib Singh once said that living in the human body is the ultimate spiritual gift because the body is the direct polarity from the Spirit. It means that one can experience the richness of both at the same time.

“As you know, the brain/body/soul system is an exquisite energy array, dynamic, ever changing, and easily attuned, like a tuning fork. It is so easy to want to work only on an energetic level, and not be in time with your feet grounded. Yet, the conscious walk-in soul steps into the body already in a dissociative state. I propose the first place to integrate is not at the energetic level, but at the brain/body level. The whole key to the human brain/body is that energy has to move. That’s it. Energy has to move.

“Physical: The first job is to stay in the body. An exercise program seems a necessity if we want to learn how to move, dance, walk, and experience the fullness and beauty of feeling human. Speaking and communicating with the endocrine system, your hormones, the gut, the heart, the colon, the shoulders that bear the burdens, and the feet that carry you through. All energy has consciousness and communicates in a personal way.

“Emotions: Don’t be afraid of feelings, and do not indulge them either. When human emotions are the exquisite visceral feelings that tell us how we are doing and communicate the psyche’s needs, we listen. When emotions are overpowering or we cannot control them, a simple rule of thumb is to do the following:

1. Be aware of them. Name them as energy in motion.
2. Listen, feel, or attune to the feeling in depth.
3. Get the message and acknowledge it; once they are thanked, feelings pass through.
4. If deep grieving and feelings seem immovable, then allow yourself the time to go fully into the richness of the experience, whether painful or traumatic, and move through the dark tunnel of emotional constriction until you feel the light of relief turn on inside, or you see the light and can move into it.

“Intellect: Think of all the intellectual information that the brain has acquired, being only as old as the physical body. Walk-ins who entered with awareness know that there are dimensions beyond the intellect where inspiration and silence resound. So the intellect does not ascend or go with the soul. Some fragmented life memories perhaps, but not the intellectual knowledge.

“The intellect has two primary jobs: to learn, to keep the body grounded, and to protect you from pain and fear. The intellect usually does this in the ways it has learned from role models. Typically, to keep the body grounded means to do something. Think of how when you are sick you cannot lie there and relax because the mind wants you to do something about the illness. How many times have you been ready for a breakthrough, and then sabotaged yourself or hit a wall and go, “Huh?” The intellect is doing its job. We thank the intellect for doing its role, and feed it as much inspiration as possible.

“Walk-ins and those who are ascending need the intellect to direct the daily activity and to keep them grounded. At the same time, you cannot rely on the intellect as your sole source of information. Higher guidance must come from your soul or your heart and is always your priority. Together, the soul and the brain can get you through and bring joy.

“The dissociation is like your consciousness alighting in the top of a tree, and your body sitting at the base of the tree on the ground. The distance between the two is the dissociated gap in consciousness, and your job is to close that gap by building bridges of character strengths.

• The intellect does well with praise
• The emotions do best with gratitude
• The body likes appreciation and care

“Always choose to know. The phrase, ‘I do not know’ cannot exist in your vocabulary! Your clear knowing is available to you 24/7 by focusing on your crown chakra and asking for guidance. Your integration includes being able to know your guidance and apply it in time. Sometimes there may be tension between your knowing something and wanting to act on it immediately. Your attunement to the knowing is first priority to be clear how things transpire in physical reality.

“Trusting your guidance comes with experience. Trust is a skill that the brain and body can learn as the energy system adapts and is comfortable with the walk-in as you become familiar with it. The more integrated you feel, the more trusting you are in your Earth walk.”