Episode
Dissociation Isn't What You Think: DID, Structural Dissociation & Therapist Confidence with Kathy Steele
- Podcast
- Transforming Trauma
- Published
- Apr 15, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2727
- Processing state
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Summary
Have you ever slipped so far into a daydream that you felt detached from reality, your emotions, or your sense of self? Brief moments of dissociation are understandable and can even preserve our mental well-being in times of intense stress. Persistent dissociation, however, is something else entirely. It's a maladaptation that often hints at layers of complex trauma—and that can intimidate therapists. One clinician invites us to reconnect with the deeply human experience of "spacing out" and remain curious about the mind's capacity to protect and survive before referring our clients to another practitioner. On this episode of Transforming Trauma , host Emily Ruth invites trauma and dissociation specialist Kathy Steele, MN, CS, to share professional observations from her 40+ years of experience working with clients, supervising therapists, and developing treatment guidelines for dissociative disorders and complex PTSD. While Kathy acknowledges that it's unsettling the first time a therapist encounters DID, she reaffirms that clinicians have the basic skills to begin treating those clients. "These are normal defenses that anybody would develop in the face of severe trauma. They just take on a life of their own," she says. "It's just like anything else. You need some practice in working with it." Transforming Trauma is grateful to Kathy for destigmatizing DID and empowering our community to approach dissociative clients with curiosity and understanding. To read the full show notes and discover more resources, visit https://complextraumatrainingcenter.com/transformingtrauma SPACE : SPACE is an Inner Development Program of Support and Self-Discovery for Therapists on the Personal, Interpersonal, and Transpersonal Levels offered by the Complex Trauma Training Center. This ex…