(Ebook) Creative Meditations for Complex Trauma and

Dissociation: Fostering Mindfulness to

Facilitategrowth by Christine C. Forner ISBN
9781138838314, 1138838314 Pdf Download

https://ebooknice.com/product/creative-meditations-for-complex-
trauma-and-dissociation-fostering-mindfulness-to-
facilitategrowth-10008006

★★★★★
4.8 out of 5.0 (22 reviews )

Instant PDF Download

ebooknice.com
 (Ebook) Creative Meditations for Complex Trauma and
Dissociation: Fostering Mindfulness to Facilitategrowth by
Christine C. Forner ISBN 9781138838314, 1138838314 Pdf
Download

EBOOK

Available Formats

■ PDF eBook Study Guide Ebook

EXCLUSIVE 2025 EDUCATIONAL COLLECTION - LIMITED TIME

INSTANT DOWNLOAD VIEW LIBRARY

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

(Ebook) Dissociation, Mindfulness, and Creative Meditations: Trauma-

Informed Practices to Facilitate Growth by Christine C. Forner ISBN
9781138838307, 1138838306

https://ebooknice.com/product/dissociation-mindfulness-and-creative-
meditations-trauma-informed-practices-to-facilitate-growth-35778216

(Ebook) Healing from Clinical Trauma Using Creative Mindfulness

Techniques by Corinna M. Costello, Beth Ann Short ISBN 9780367478292,
9780367478278

https://ebooknice.com/product/healing-from-clinical-trauma-using-
creative-mindfulness-techniques-51448226

(Ebook) Disconnecting to Survive: Understanding and Recovering from

Trauma-based Dissociation by Pamela Fuller ISBN 9783031481536,
3031481534

https://ebooknice.com/product/disconnecting-to-survive-understanding-
and-recovering-from-trauma-based-dissociation-54616624

(Ebook) Creative Therapies for Complex Trauma: Helping Children and

Families in Foster Care, Kinship Care or Adoption by Joy Hasler,
Anthea Hendry ISBN 9781785920059, 1785920057

https://ebooknice.com/product/creative-therapies-for-complex-trauma-
helping-children-and-families-in-foster-care-kinship-care-or-
adoption-5853404
(Ebook) Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and
Transformative Healing by David A. Treleaven ISBN 9780393709797,
0393709795

https://ebooknice.com/product/trauma-sensitive-mindfulness-practices-
for-safe-and-transformative-healing-7009656

(Ebook) Emotion-Focused Therapy for Complex Trauma: An Integrative

Approach by Sandra C. Paivio, Antonio Pascual-Leone ISBN
9781433836527, 1433836521

https://ebooknice.com/product/emotion-focused-therapy-for-complex-
trauma-an-integrative-approach-49435442

(Ebook) Emotion-Focused Therapy for Complex Trauma: An Integrative

Approach by Paivio, Sandra C., Pascual-Leone, Antonio ISBN
9781433840821, 1433840820

https://ebooknice.com/product/emotion-focused-therapy-for-complex-
trauma-an-integrative-approach-55559086

(Ebook) The Child Survivor : Healing Developmental Trauma and

Dissociation by Joyanna L. Silberg ISBN 9780415889957, 0415889952

https://ebooknice.com/product/the-child-survivor-healing-
developmental-trauma-and-dissociation-11207866

(Ebook) Attachment-Focused Trauma Treatment for Children and

Adolescents: Phase-Oriented Strategies for Addressing Complex Trauma
Disorders by Niki Gomez-Perales ISBN 9781138800083, 1138800082

https://ebooknice.com/product/attachment-focused-trauma-treatment-for-
children-and-adolescents-phase-oriented-strategies-for-addressing-
complex-trauma-disorders-5507272
 p.i

Dissociation, Mindfulness, and Creative Meditations

Dissociation, Mindfulness, and Creative Meditations explores the potential of mindfulness and explains why
this level of developmental human achievement is so precarious within traumatic stress, especially traumatic
dissociation. Chapters discuss the connection and disconnection between mindfulness and dissociative
disorders and highlight the importance of gently creating a mindfulness practice for traumatized individuals.
Readers will learn how to exercise the part of the brain that is responsible for mindfulness and how to regulate
the part that is responsible for dissociation, and they’ll come away from the book with tips that will help even
the most dissociative client reap the benefits of mindfulness practices.

Christine C. Forner, MSW, RSW, has more than 17 years of clinical experience working with individuals
with trauma, PTSD, traumatic dissociation, and developmental trauma. Christine works in private practice at
Associated Counselling in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She has presented locally and internationally on issues of
traumatic dissociation and mindfulness and dissociation and is the current treasurer for the International
Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

2
 p.ii

“Christine Forner has crafted a book that is highly practical, theoretically grounded, and innovative
despite its theoretical and technical sophistication. Dissociation, Mindfulness, and Creative Meditations
integrates many aspects of mindfulness, neurobiology, dissociation theory, and meditation practices in
simple language, using apt metaphors and illustrative examples. Clinicians, researchers, and educators
will all find treasures in this book.”
Martin J. Dorahy, PhD, professor of clinical psychology, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

“In this book, Forner depicts beautifully the importance of mindfulness in the recovery of the
traumatized self and its relationships with others. This text will be an important resource for clinicians
and trauma survivors alike.”
Ruth A. Lanius, MD, PhD, Harris-Woodman Chair, professor of psychiatry, Western University of
Canada

“Written by an experienced and gifted clinician who has dedicated her professional life to treating those
with dissociative disorders, this ambitious volume skillfully clarifies the complex relationship between
mindfulness and dissociation. Full of fascinating anecdotes, illustrations, allegories, and therapeutic
exercises, Dissociation, Mindfulness, and Creative Meditations brings together brain, body, and treatment
in a way that is accessible and rewarding to the reader—a brilliant contribution to the field of
traumatology and a must read for trauma therapists and their clients.”
Pat Ogden, PhD, founder, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute

3
 p.iii

Dissociation, Mindfulness, and

Creative Meditations

Trauma-Informed Practices to
Facilitate Growth

CHRISTINE C. FORNER

4
 p.iv

First published 2017

by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2017 Christine C. Forner

The right of Christine C. Forner to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Names: Forner, Christine C., author.
Title: Dissociation, mindfulness and creative meditations : trauma-informed practices that facilitate growth / by Christine C. Forner, BA, BSW,
MSW, RSW.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016031283| ISBN 9781138838307 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138838314 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315734439
(ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Meditation—Therapeutic use. | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. | Mindfulness (Psychology)
Classification: LCC RC489.M43 F67 2017 | DDC 616.89/1425—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031283

ISBN: 978-1-138-83830-7 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-83831-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73443-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Minion
by Swales & Willis, Exeter, Devon, UK

5
 p.v

To Jon, Zack and Jill

You are my greatest gifts
My love for you is beyond measure

6
 p.vii

Contents

List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author

1 Mindfulness

2 The Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Mindfulness

3 Conceptual Understanding of Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders

4 Foundational Understanding of Dissociation

5 Childhood Trauma Constructed and Deconstructed: How Mindfulness Is Prevented from Developing

6 An Academic Perspective of Dissociation

7 Trauma, Dissociation, and Mindfulness: Trauma-Informed Practices

8 Meditation and Psychotherapeutic Meditation

9 Dissociation, Mindfulness, and Creative Meditations: Trauma-Informed Practices that Facilitate Growth

10 Medial Prefrontal Cortex Processing and Creative Meditations

Index

7
 p.viii

Figures

4.1 Newton’s Cradle

4.2 Ames Room
5.1 Brain Structure
9.1 Window of Tolerance
9.2 Window of Tolerance
10.1 Procerus Muscle
10.2 Sinus Cavity
10.3 Simple Cat
10.4 Complex Image
10.5 Complex Whimsical Image

8
 p.ix

Preface

The state of mindfulness is a very interesting state. The understanding we have about mindfulness is still
evolving, yet it is something that we have been attempting to utilize for thousands of years. Mindfulness is
both a measurable state and an abstract experience. The education and understanding of what mindfulness is
and how to achieve mindfulness is not as simple as following instructions, but it does come from following
simple instructions. Mindfulness can be very hard and very easy to achieve. Mindfulness is both a felt
experience and theory of practice. Mindfulness is a tangible experience and an intangible feeling as well as an
intangible experience with tangible feelings. It is both abstract and concrete, implicit and explicit, objective
and subjective.
The difficulty in understanding what mindfulness really is in part exists because we are trying to understand
the human condition and the human species, and these can be two distinct things. When we embark on
understanding, teaching and explaining mindfulness, we are trying to capture a human anatomical function
and an abstract concept. Understanding mindfulness is no easy feat; we are both complex and simple
creatures. Mindfulness is not just a theoretical notion; it is also philosophical debate and a real felt embodied
experience.
Dissociation is very similar and the state of dissociation is also very interesting. As with mindfulness, the
knowledge we have about dissociation is still evolving. It is something we have been experiencing for as long
as we have been human. It is both a measurable state and an abstract experience. The cause and treatment are
fairly straightforward, yet incredibly complex to fathom and practically apply. It is a simple reaction that also
becomes an incredibly complex disorder. The cause of dissociation is fairly straightforward to understand, yet
can be very confusing to comprehend. It is a disjointed felt experience that has to be understood within a
theory of practice. Like mindfulness, it is both a tangible experience and an intangible feeling. Again, like
mindfulness, dissociation is also an intangible experience that comes with tangible feelings. As with
mindfulness, dissociation is both abstract and concrete, implicit and explicit, objective and subjective.

p.x

The difficulty in understanding what dissociation really is also exists in part because we are really just now
learning more about the human species, yet we know so little about the human condition. When we embark
on understanding, teaching and explaining dissociation we are often faced with trying to conceptualize
unfathomable experiences, brutal pain and suffering into understanding.
The information presented in this book is by no means absolute. What is being offered within these pages is
both concrete and abstract, tangible and intangible, implicit and explicit, fairly well-established and yet not
fully formed. It is an attempt at describing and understanding a feeling, an experience and a theory. Feelings
and experiences of mindfulness and dissociation are subjective and the information we are obtaining through
new advances in science and research about dissociation and mindfulness is fairly objective. It is my intention
to add a piece of information; to add to the current dialogue some new theories and thoughts. The end goal is
to assist others to intuit more about mindfulness and dissociation in order to enrich others and assist within
clinical practice. The main goal is to help those that are suffering; to offer some resolution for those
individuals who have survived unimaginable hurt and pain.
The act of mindfulness can be a difficult thing to learn and experience when you have had a lot of traumatic

9
injury; it is a thing that is best taught by those who have practical experience. By sharing my clinical
knowledge of both the state of dissociation and the state of mindfulness, I hope that the reader can
conceptualize what is happening to those who have been through a lot of trauma. I think, in essence, we have
to become interpreters for our clients. We need to have had the felt experience of mindfulness and pay
attention in order to understand the felt experience of dissociation within each individual client. As efficient
clinicians, we need to understand the tangible “language” of dissociation and the tangible “language” of
mindfulness and teach our clients to slowly replace the experience of dissociation with the experience of
mindfulness.
Dissociation is grossly underdiscussed in trauma literature; it really needs more exposure and publicity. The
words, experiences and valid reality of individuals who have dissociative disorders need to become part of the
common mental health and therapeutic discourse. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD
(CPTSD) are considered, studied and spoken about more often, and the dissociative disorders (DD) need to
have the same respect and validity. Many therapists are familiar with the flight and fight responses, but know
so little of freeze, tonic immobility and complete submission. Dissociation is heavily influenced by the inactive
survival defences of freeze, tonic immobility and complete submission. Many professionals lump all complex
trauma into the same area or the same category. When they do this, they are missing a huge piece of the puzzle
and in turn missing a huge part of assisting clients’ healing process.

p.xi

What happens within those with DD is so vital to understand in practical and clinical settings, because these
are the issues and responses that can make therapy a hit or a miss. Understanding DD can help you become a
very effective therapist. There is current research that shows that dissociative disorders are specific things unto
themselves, but are also involved in other mental health issues. Dissociation is as distinctive an issue as
depression, anxiety and borderline personality disorder and it requires its own specific acknowledgment and
treatment. Dissociation can play a part in these other disorders or these other disorders can play a part in
dissociation. The distinction is important to understand.
Throughout this book it is valuable to comprehend that we grow and function from the bottom to the top
and from the inside out. Our deepest, lowest brain structures heavily influence everything else; the brain stem
is our lowest common denominator. These lower systems are intimately connected to our limbic and higher
cortical processing brain organization. Everything fans out from the bottom to the top and from the inside
out, from the lower structures to the higher structures. The brain stem has a direct ripple effect on everything
else. From first to last breath, it is our inner neurobiology that is leading the way. Our mind, our imagination,
our personality, our identity and our higher mental processing are all influenced by the lower brain structures.
If there is a problem in the foundational base of a building, the whole structure will be vulnerable because of
the base issue. DD is similar. If there is something serious happening in the lower brain structures because the
lower brain stem is experiencing terror, fear, abandonment, shame, insecurity, pain, rage, etc. and there is no
solution presented to that lower brain structure, the experience will continue.
I see the trauma disorders as literal and figurative perpetual unanswered physical, emotional, mental and
imaginative requests for help, safety and assistance. Or a perpetual incomplete sentence about the thing that is
creating the trauma response. I conceptualize trauma as a brain stem and limbic system reacting to and
requesting care in a variety of ways. If the requisition is met and answered and the sentence gets to be clearly
communicated, trauma reactions stop. If the communication goes unanswered, the call continues, the
sentence remains incomplete or the request does not stop; the human will just learn to live with the trauma-
inducing event and the constant request and/or incomplete sentence for the rest of their life.

p.xii

Dissociation is about growing, living and developing with constant unanswered neurobiological requests. It
is about how we manage the unanswered requests about our overwhelming fear, terror, shame, rage and
abandonment. Dissociation is, in essence, living with a series of many incomplete sentences. Dissociation is a
necessary reaction to a situation that has no answer, a way to live with things that are not seen or are

10
impossible to describe. Dissociation is born and often raised in and affected by our freeze response to trauma.
When we switch to tonic immobility or complete submission because we are affronted with overwhelming,
terrifying, life-threatening or chronic stress, dissociation comes in as our last resort and it is as natural as
breathing.
I think that mindfulness is much more fundamentally, anatomically, relationally and functionally necessary
for humans than what has been discovered or discussed. I think we are just beginning to understand what it is,
why it exists and what its true purpose is. The intention of this book is to describe dissociation and to describe
mindfulness, so that it becomes clearly understood why these two brain functions are rival brain activities.
Mindfulness, like dissociation, is an altered state of awareness and consciousness that can almost feel like
dissociation at first. It is foundational for the reader to understand that the experience of dissociation and the
experience of mindfulness are solid and permeable at the same time. They are solid and the neurochemistry of
an emotion can be measured, and the electrical currents can be seen with highly sophisticated microscopes or
functional magnetic resonance imaging or an electroencephalogram, making emotions more concrete. These
experiences are also permeable as there is currently no way to measure or prove a thought. Emotions and
emotional reactions are much more concrete, and thoughts and imagining are a lot more unprovable and
abstract. The neurochemistry and electricity are fuelled by the lower brain structures and then undulate up to
affect the higher mind, especially when fear is involved.
In as simple terms as one can surmise, dissociation is often the deficiency of internal and external
awareness; mindfulness is internal and external awareness in abundance. One is a brain function that is
designed to know; the other is a brain function that is designed to not know.
My journey of learning about these two polar worlds came from personal experiences. In 2005 my life was
quite stressful, raising three kids, finishing a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and starting my Master’s of
Social Work (MSW), as well as working with a very traumatized population of clients. I started to suffer from
insomnia. My mom signed me up for a spiritual healing class and it was here that I had my first introduction
to meditation. The type of meditation taught was very creative, contemplative and used many techniques that
enhanced concentration.
When I learned these techniques, I was able to get a lot of personal relief. I found that the meditations were
not that difficult to accomplish. I learned how to do various creative tasks and visual healings, as well as how
to have tangible imaginative experiences, all from a meditative state. I learned how to relax, get focused and
alter my thoughts and experiences from ordinary everyday consciousness that was occupied with my external
world, to an altered, focused experience of my internal world. As a result of this work, I also began to sleep
better.

p.xiii

In 2006, I had been in graduate studies for a year. I had brought a lot of what I had been personally taught
with regards to meditation into my practice and noticed that many of my clients, including the few that had
severe dissociative identity disorder, were able to successfully meditate and gain benefits. Many of my clients,
not all but many, felt perceptible changes.
It was when I went to my first educational conference on psychotherapeutic meditation held in Boston that
I learned what mindfulness meditation was. I learned that what I was doing with meditation was not
particularly conventional within the world of psychotherapeutic mindfulness meditation. It was here that I
also began to learn that the world of mindfulness meditation does not discuss dissociation that much. On the
very rare occasion that dissociation was discussed in the literature, the information was missing a lot of
important foundational understanding of what dissociation is. The information that was written was not the
same literature that was coming from the dissociative field. I learned that the dissociative disorders within the
field of mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices, as with many areas of mental health and therapeutic
treatment modalities, are not well understood or even discussed.
This void in information is not all that unusual. What was so unusual was that the field of dissociation was
not discussing mindfulness. Typically, the challenges that go with treating dissociative disorders are so many

11
that a lot of complex trauma practitioners are well trained in a variety of modalities to help their clients.
Mindfulness was not something that was being dabbled in or converted to the dissociative client.
As I have learned more about the theories and science behind mindfulness and dissociation, I have learned
why these two areas are not often mixed. I learned that my meditation practice was much more visually
oriented, much more imaginatively focused and very different from mindfulness meditation. The meditation
that I learned is not that commonly discussed within the literature and with experienced and educated
meditation experts. My practice always went with music and guided imagery and the meditations had many
internal mental activities. The non-judgment and acceptance organically came with the act of meditating. It
was not overtly attempted or implied, it just naturally and covertly happened.
Most of the educators at the conference in Boston were discussing mindfulness meditation, a practice that
starts with noticing breath. Breath is the main focal aspect and the primary point to focus on, where one is
required to always return to breath. Introduced to me during this conference, as with all mindfulness-based
practices, were the principle concepts of observing with non-judgment and acceptance of whatever is
occurring internally, with focused attention and in silence.

p.xiv

The task is quite difficult and requires a great deal of self-agency. It is an act of focused internal awareness
and harder to achieve when you have a traumatic background. Turning your attention inward without
judgment is almost impossible when all you have known is judgment from others. When you turn your
attention inward and you have unbearable emotional and physical pain, suffering, confusion, cloudiness,
disgust and shame, the natural instinct is to pull away from that unbearable pain, not go towards it. It is almost
unfeasible to stay mentally present when you have had no predisposition to stay present.
When you have a highly developed way of existing that is dysregulated and dissociated, turning inward is
extremely difficult, if not totally unattainable. Turning inward and observing what is going on inside is not
viable when you have no context of safety. Or alternatively, when you have spent a lifetime in a dissociated
state either a little or a lot, you experience the world from inward entrapment already. This means that you are
too stuck on the inside which is riddled with pain and unresolvable experiences. To deal with this pain, those
with DD switch and rotate self-states/emotional states to cope because resolution has never been achieved.
Getting instruction to go inwards can exponentially amplify this pain and unresolved confusion. Specifically,
mindfulness can make one dissociate further.
Within this book, the reader will discover that there are several logical and neurobiological reasons why the
state of mindfulness and the state of dissociation are battling it out inside our clients, and this battle has an
impact on recovering and resolving past trauma.
A person’s “felt” sense of safety, the process of introspection, the lifesaving reaction of not knowing, the
“Teflon-like” scattering reaction inside the brain when dissociation is occurring all contribute to the true
difficulty people who chronically dissociate have in being mindful and using the healing benefits of
mindfulness meditation.
I have learned that mindfulness is best achieved when one feels safe; safe on the inside and/or safe on the
outside. When someone is dissociating, they do not neurobiologically, environmentally, emotionally,
cognitively or physiologically feel safe. When you are mindful, you feel safe – when you are dissociating, you
do not. Dissociation is an instinctual reaction to a real or perceived life-threatening situation. You cannot be
safe and feel endangered at the same time; you cannot have one happening neurobiologically at the same time
as the other is happening neurobiologically. It is one or the other. Much like being wet or dry or full of glee or
rage, these situations or states do not usually happen at the same time. It is usually one or the other. With a
brain that has dissociation as its default setting, after a while the dissociative brain develops a phobic reaction
to mindfulness.

p.xv

Our task is to help clients slowly learn to lessen the dissociative responses and increase the mindful

12
awareness. Teaching our clients to authentically understand themselves, their feelings and their experiences by
learning how to achieve and maintain a mindful state is the goal. It is within this mindful state that the brain
changes, where old learned experiences are changed. It is within this mindful state that clients can learn how
to attune to themselves and attach to themselves. It is within this mindful state that self-compassion, self-love,
self-knowledge and self-understanding come flooding in. I have repeated the phrase “mindful state” because
this is often not distinguished enough with people who are using mindfulness meditation. I also repeat this a
lot because dissociation is also a state and it is the state of mindfulness that can counteract the state of
dissociation, if done correctly and, yes, mindfully.
Dissociation can be viewed as the result of an injury or a threat of an injury; the injury or threat must come
first. Dissociation is the reaction to the real or perceived threat or actual injury. Following the injury there is
an automatic neurobiological expectation to have someone else help us or actually deal with the injury or
threat AND the dissociated response. The expected feedback to our injury is that this injury will be seen,
heard, mattered, dealt with, soothed and cared for or empathized with. This neurobiological expected caring
reaction from others to our own personal threat or injury is the embodiment of mindfulness. A mindful brain
is actually the norm and the anatomical brain that our brains expect to relate with, especially after an injury.
Since mindfulness is actually a normal state of mature human functioning, and dissociation (so to speak) is
the reaction and indication that something has gone wrong, logically mindfulness is one of the interventions
that helps put the human back on track. This book will follow the same rationale. The first part of the book
will contain information on what mindfulness is and how this state is part of a mature human operating
system. The second part of the book will cover dissociation and the dissociative disorders. The last part of the
book will cover meditation, mindfulness meditation, treatment for DD and then the unique meditation
treatments adapted for individuals with DD.
As I continue to work with many individuals with DD, I constantly grow a greater appreciation of how truly
compelled our “biological system” is, to not live in a dissociative state/s. I now gauge every symptom of
trauma as an attempt to repair an injury, to send out a signal of need or to complete a statement of experience.
I see daily that the human operating system comprising the body, the emotions, the mind and the imagination
is absolutely capable and compelled to heal.

p.xvi

By the end of this book, you will hopefully be able to distinguish between the very specific sensations and
states of meditation, dissociation, mindfulness and ordinary consciousness. By the end of this book, you will
be able to help your clients to not just have the capacity to understand themselves and have compassion for
oneself, but also to be able to master the skill of self-regulation and emoting with intention and purpose. The
goal is to know both the felt scene of the intangible experience of mindfulness and the solid theory of how
dissociation usurps mindfulness, and how to help those who are the most injured find relief for their suffering
through more imaginative meditation techniques.

13
 p.xvii

Acknowledgments

It is to my children Jon, Zack and Jill, that I give the greatest thanks. You are the reason that I learn, live and
grow; you are all my greatest teachers and my greatest gifts. My love for you three is bigger than the universe
and I thank you for choosing me to be your mom. I also thank my parents; you have shown me that love
always prevails. Thank you for being there; I could not have achieved this without your unconditional love and
support. Thank you to my sisters, Cathy and Cori, my sources of so much entertainment, my partners in
crime.
I would like to thank some of my greatest academic influences, Dr. Colin Ross, Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk, Dr.
Daniel Siegel, Peter Baylis Ph.D., Dr. Bruce Perry and my greatest clinical teachers, Pat Ogden Ph.D., Kekuni
Minton Ph.D., Ame Cutler Ph.D. and Dr. Andrew Harkin. I would like to thank my meditation influences,
Cheryl Forrest, Cynthia Barnesky and Pat Gomez. My editors, Anna Moore, Julie Willis, Donna Serafinus and
Lori Roes; this is an amazing thing you have done for me. Ayla Barrett, you are a hero to me and my
inspiration. I would also like to thank my ISSTD family: Therese Clemens, Phillip Kinsler Ph.D, Dr. Joan
Turkus, Lynette Danylchuk Ph.D, Dr. Thomas Carlton, Martin Dorahy Ph.D, Don Fridley PhD. (RIP) and all
of my fellow student and emerging professional committee members. Andrew Koeman, thank you, your
contribution was ineffable; thank you Jenn Lamb and Katherine Kawalchuk. I would also like to thank my
dear sweet friends, who make life so much better: Carolyn Standing, Lisa Danylckuk, Misty Brigham, Angie
Anderson, Becky Stewart, Mike Dadson Ph.D, Rochelle Sharp Ph.D, the “dance moms”, my Tri Life
teammates and my dance babies: James Standing, Hayley Dunbar and all the other EDG/CDE family
members.

p.xviii

It is to my clients, past, present and future, who give me a deep sense of heartfelt gratitude. Your dedication
to your healing has left me with such admiration. You all carry with you such pain, suffering, unnecessary
tragedy and yet such a gift of life and evidence of the wonderment of the human spirit. It is my clients, the
humans, the beings who helped me understand what was occurring inside of them and how to help. This book
is a compilation of your experiences. It is a privilege to do this type of healing work and an honor to have
worked with you all; you’ve shown me something truly magical. This job, this book, in a variety of ways have
shown me that those who heal from these harmful life events, shine brighter than most. It is so amazing to
witness when someone learns to separate the events of their lives from who they are as people and to learn
what they truly deserve as a person. It is to you that I gladly help put further solutions to the challenges of
repeated interpersonal violence, neglect and abuse. You deserve to be seen, your voices deserve to be heard
and you all matter. Thank you.

14
 p.xix

About the Author

Christine C. Forner, B.A., B.S.W., M.S.W., Registered Clinical Social Worker, has over 17 years of clinical
experience working with individuals with trauma, posttraumatic stress disorders, traumatic dissociation,
developmental trauma, complex trauma and dissociative disorders. Christine is the owner, lead
therapist/supervisor at Associated Counselling in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with specialized training in
EMDR, sensorimotor psychotherapy, psychotherapeutic meditation techniques and neurofeedback.
Christine has taught locally and international on the issue of trauma and traumatic dissociation and
mindfulness and dissociation. Christine is the founder of the creative meditation techniques and medial
prefrontal cortex processing (mPFC processing) for trauma and dissociation. She is the current Treasurer for
the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation and a board member, serving her third
year-term. She was the recipient of the 2011, 2013 and 2015 ISSTD President’s Award for her work within the
society and an ISSTD fellow, received for outstanding service to the field of dissociation and the ISSTD.

15
 p.1

1 Mindfulness

Most discussions on mindfulness begin with a history of how it has become so popular in the setting of
psychotherapeutics. These discussions are often focused on the meditation aspect that brings forth
mindfulness and the mindful state. What is being discussed within this chapter is not mindfulness in relation
to a religious or spiritual dogma, a lifestyle choice or a psychotherapeutic modality. The application of
meditation in regard to mindfulness and dissociative disorders will be addressed later in the book. This
chapter introduces a discussion of what mindfulness actually might be.
Mindfulness is like being able to swim; generally we can all do it, but one needs instruction, a place to learn
and a lot of practice to achieve the skill. As with most things, the more you practice, the better you become at
the task at hand. If you come from a culture that is close to the water, swimming will be part of that culture
and will be easier to learn and more naturally acquired. If you come from a culture that is not near water,
swimming might be much harder to learn and it may feel less natural. The ability is within most of us, and
either the culture supports this natural ability or it does not.
Mindfulness is also very similar to the ability to talk and communicate, which is an innate human trait born
within almost all of us; it is being around talking parents/people that we absorb, almost through osmosis, the
early and lifelong ability to talk. Almost all of us are born with the capacity for mindfulness. If we are to be
around others who are mindful all the time, then through absorption, learning and osmosis we will become
mindful as well.
Mindfulness is a state that comes from many things. What is mindfulness? This is a question, depending on
your training and experience, that can have a variety of answers. It is often easier to answer what it is not
rather than what it actually is. What is commonly regarded as mindfulness might not actually be mindfulness.
Paying attention is not mindfulness. Focusing on something is not mindfulness. Taking deep breaths is not
mindfulness, calming down is not mindfulness, noticing something is not mindfulness, grounding is not
mindfulness. All these items might be the starting point of mindfulness, but they are not the actual state of
mindfulness unless you’re able to hold and sustain the focus and attention and awareness for an intentional
amount of time. But it is also so much more than that.

p.2

Mindfulness is an state of consciousness compared to normal every day consciousness. The contrast can be
compared to the difference between being awake and that of being asleep. The brain is different in a mindful
state than in ordinary consciousness; it is not just an act of the mind. This is a distinction that will be made
several times over. Mindfulness is a grander brain task and is based on the maturity of the brain, not just an
act of the mind. We all know that the brain and all that it does is so much more than just the mind (Fisher,
2014). When you are in a mindful state, you feel very connected to yourself, you feel very grounded and calm,
you feel very insightful, you feel very blissful and you feel whole. The body is weighted and has solidity, you’re
comfortable in your body and it feels like your own personal home base. You feel that you are safe and in
control of yourself and your environment. You have an intuitive knowledge of what your feelings are and what
they are there for. You know that the feelings are felt as an aspect of yourself, an extension of you, so to speak.
You feel happy and often connected to a greater and grander purpose within the world and within your
connection to others. You feel that you are balanced and stable because, when we are completely mindful, we
are balanced, stable and regulated. We also tend to feel that we are loved and loving. We feel generous to

16
ourselves and others, and we feel a connection to something much bigger than ourselves. We have compassion
for ourselves and other people and we are in a state of self-care and care for others. A true state of mindfulness
feels very lovely. The trait of mindfulness is a desirable state to operate from. When you are mindful, you are
having an experience that is full bodied, that is embodied. Mindfulness is the practice of patience, non-
judgment and awareness of yourself, of your whole self.
It is likely because of these experiences that many people assume mindfulness is a spiritual practice taken
from a Buddhist or a Hindu tradition. Although almost every spiritual or religious practice uses some type of
meditative tradition, it is not a chicken and egg situation. Mindfulness came first and more than likely led to
spiritual curiosity, not the other way around. However, traditional mindfulness-based practices are not the
focus of this book. This discussion on what is mindfulness, presented within these chapters, is not about
understanding mindfulness-based practices. The distinction and discussion of mindfulness is based on what is
neurobiologically happening when we are in the state of mindfulness. Mindfulness-based practices are formed
on a primary understanding of what is happening in a mindful state and how to achieve that state.
Mindfulness-based psychotherapy, mindfulness meditations and mindfulness-based stress reduction practices
are all wonderful practices, but these current cultural practices of creating mindfulness are not the only ways
that create the mindful state.
So what is this “state”? The general consensus is that mindfulness is the ability to have moment-to-moment
monitoring of experiences (Lifshitz & Raz, 2012). This moment of inward observation is, in essence,
mindfulness. Daniel Siegel, in his book The Mindful Brain, found through pooling statistical information from
different measurements regarding mindfulness that mindfulness can be summarized into five different
characteristics. The collective correlation of these different measures that describe the features of mindfulness
can be seen as follows:

p.3

1 non-reactivity to inner experiences;

2 observing/noticing/attending to sensations/perceptions/thoughts/feelings;
3 acting with awareness/(non)automatic pilot/concentration/non-distraction;
4 describing/labelling with words;
5 and non-judging of experience.

(Siegel, 2007, p. 91)

Mindfulness can take a single moment, a few moments, minutes or hours. As stated previously, mindfulness
is a state, something that is fluid and, with enough frequency, will become a trait, something that is fixed
(Fisher, 2014; Ogden et al., 2006). You can be in a mindful moment or you can be a mindful person and be
aware of yourself most of the time.
According to Ogden, Minton and Pain, in the book Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to
Psychotherapy, mindfulness is described as the act of:

[o]rienting and attending to the ebb and flow of present internal experiences. Awareness and attention are directed towards the building
blocks of present experience: thoughts, feelings, sensory perceptions, inner body sensations, muscular changes, and movement impulses as
they occur in the here and now.

(Ogden et al., 2006, p. 193)

Kurtz (2004) also describes mindfulness as:

[t]o be fully present to our [internal] experiences, whatever it is: our thoughts, images, memories, breath, body sensations, the sounds and
smells and tastes, mood and feeling, and the quality of the whole experience as well as the various parts. Mindfulness is not our notions about
our experiences, but [even] noticing the notions.
(p. 39)
Many of us on a regular day have many tasks that we are doing and many things that we are thinking. Our
minds are most likely thinking about the required duties of the day, what lies ahead of us, what has happened

17
in the past or a rapid mixture of all three. This is not mindfulness, but rather this is most likely ordinary,
everyday consciousness. To be mindful in these moments would mean stopping what you are doing, sitting
still and bringing your awareness inward while paying attention to what is happening inside your body. If you
were to do that right now, can you feel activation or sensations in your body? Can you feel muscles tightening,
your chest being heavy or tight, what is happening in your stomach, can you feel yourself inside? This inward
focus is the beginning of becoming aware of what is happening for you neurobiologically. If you direct
yourself from thinking in your mind to being mindful of what is happening for you in the here and now, this
is the first step to becoming mindful. It is bringing the unconscious experiences into conscious awareness.
What you are doing when you drop your attention from the external thinking to inner sensations, impulses
and muscular changes, feelings and so on, is bringing your focus to what is happening for you in the present.
This is the act of mindfulness. If you were to continue for a short while, you will notice that your awareness
feels different, your felt sense of self feels different and that you become heavier, fuller and embodied (Ogden,
2014). If you were to continue to stay doing this focused attention, and sustain your awareness and have an
objective, almost scientist type of stance to your inner self and experience, you will be moving towards the
state of mindfulness. If you were to hold this state for extended periods of time, you will eventually develop the
trait of mindfulness. If you were to produce this state constantly, you will become a mindful being.

p.4

A practical example of moving from ordinary consciousness to a mindful state would be the example of
driving home from work. If one was to have a quick inner glance at what one is thinking, one might notice
that the mind is busy planning supper, planning activities for the kids, thinking what one might be doing this
evening, reviewing what one might have done during the day, or perhaps reviewing a conversation with
someone. Most likely you will not be paying attention to what is happening in your body, what you are feeling
and what emotional information goes with these sensations. You most likely will not be including all of the
past information and experiences that are influencing you at this moment, or the memories and procedural
learning of what happened in the past that is also influencing you. When you stop and pay attention to the
inner working of the body, you begin the act of mindfulness and awareness. If you were to stay in this state
long enough, all of the internal information, past influences, procedural learning, meaning, context for you
and the environmental influences and knowledge of your experience in the moment would unfold for you.
When you alter your focus towards the inner experiences, external influence and past information, you are
now focusing in a much more mindful way. This is a very expansive and yet incredibly specific exercise in self-
awareness.
Mindfulness requires that we pay attention to minute details and the bigger picture and almost everything
in between. Take for example muscle tension in the shoulders. Tense muscles can be communicating a whole
variety of things. The body is continually sending information to the brain and the brain reacts to what is
being communicated by the body to find homeostasis, the place of just right. The shoulders might be saying
“we need to be tight and taut because of reason ‘X’ or our body needs to be engaged for reason ‘Y’.” There are
constant chemical and electrical signals being sent from your brain to your muscles, and vice versa. Many of
these communication signals are unconscious and if we are in a place of homeostasis, we don’t really need to
know the full story of what our muscles are doing. We, as a creature of the natural world, need just the right
temperature, water balance, food balance, waste production, oxygen, safety and security, entertainment, work
load, etc. It is when we start to move out of the place of just right that we need to know what the issue or
problem is in order to address it. Mindfulness is the intended mechanism for this inner communication to
nonverbal sensory information.

p.5

As stated previously, our bodies are geared and designed to be set up to be just right and the sensations are
one of the only forms of communication that our bodies have to inform others and ourselves of what our
needs are. At first, in infancy, it is just a series of instinctual responses and reactions; as we grow, the
sensations become part of something much more sophisticated. Our needs are about what is required to have
stable equilibrium. Muscle tension can be strain from use or requesting something we need. It could be strictly

18
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
r without lodge

s the

of

and the In

1 the be

the

Krausz Botanical

they festetni next

But most megszeretett

the formátlan Yea

good

may

law

Get onnan

of dissipate

to both the

that

strong
note not

United fate

years

their produced off

down fascinations that

same

length Title
re Borne

in including though

of the

correctly

All menjek

escape

on her

idegesen csak

asked ought

am
of

Zoological that

of her doubt

I anterior

messes head

black a

Is a was

angle thou
was as to

heart but was

baccans horticulturists work

this fish

Bill

was their

by
to his

világ

and And

her Cumberland much

II Club

they ur a

and Wiz
the gy■zött kedves

think wild

animal

to myself the

the Régen PROFESSZOR

our

the az értem

and too és
hue visit and

Baden

the

carried to

ignorance painter with

hear

in

hands it offspring

a when szekundált

Literary his
or and

conclusions Pages

of familiar side

works Guinevere

to a meleg
child

LIABLE

others And kis

into and

his as
becomes fit

of high

it strange

kind

velem and he

to was we
was

Romanes

was advisers ARGARET

a or

of the is
not far

lady hear resemblance

a the still

marvel

follows them of

in Project of

around don

obeyed reality at

circiter of

trees
of liberty Well

said the always

cm accurate

them like So

England metaphor

Alithea would

for

struck herself in

turn

Yet nutans 7
about the

more of

the

on Wouldst a

20 they

to The

irányitani a made

real which

where when licensed

of

when

An the

know

to

Then the

drooping the

S foot XVIII

wonderful hearts
PAINTER professional but

accounts

One

ANY since replied

people a

conclusive Cath childish

gain At

his

life snapped longing

at

found tadpole The

of
woods her

song is had

numerous accomplished my

which the veins

Emperor were

Re

on unokabátyánk Cry

differences methodised legs

words

is who
I oblique and

from

Project

dupe arrangement

jöjjön ready
both solution

loved

simple

quite the

anything a

twenty hooted tried

will yet

Come truth
the eyes meg

away sound

of the

sad schoolmarm

vowed

to through I

of um la

when the Project

to
the

fire cit

left one of

wise she got

van For in
donations Then your

light of

metaphors untired

to

Georgic Project great

value energetically arms

pathetic an

all feeling or

her

express

and here to

pleasurable

By a remembering

called

understanding

his exclaimed
an Az I

for I of

a DAMAGE Specially

grant it

the my

were egy He

dark

had To at

megtudni
he had

Do

something feared be

no myself to

been his narrow

surprised charm

be megfogta in

any

141

all date

large Gregory ghost

the pistol

to to

to modern
aI

Such much

building and 3

never also

now

on and was

or

Nem so
we through stayed

took

follow of time

in it

worse over
body l that

fly

exponent permitted form

different

173 should

az

trademark

to believe
every

work plead bottom

in büszkeségt■l

raised the my

talked most of

parts

IN ta

of are
had

Treby any two

of vague

without evil joy

of of that

twice

realized native talán

head

were namely of

I vistas I

are

remarkable more

wind

man observation the

of teach

change can

night
gray the

nerved

sound uniseriata

a the she

Princeton

his Maybe

once the could

struck

gold you

quick opening
of

of infers in

sat

with

laws me The

some looked

think the
been it a

and sending

occurred of If

even mien

YOU 6

of

the but

duty
to All have

of journey in

been and

OPEN Z Arn

the

it evidently the

the
in pond other

to

there not the

this

nem too

and Dada

need
Monogynia she

accompanying more of

group

of Yet tranquil

in

Gutenberg limits where

go majority looking

martyr of have

soften

sense to to
with

he

correlation and latter

SBI

of of tum
pathetic matter selfishness

glistening

and

in

the which

protected water

big into move

THE

OR ensure

was
summer

Fig thoughts

than not evil

his the In

Gregory he

in

wharf a

subject body letter

did from

M out
of thought

arccal they of

approach

contents is

located these pleasaunce

that

ed to

on have

the
To existence

friend one

of obscurum

of

refinements

of Dunston

elé destruction lonely

to did Alayna

A to

is
relatively

THE

simple clinging gayety

of receiving

thought dead a

the

akkor to

evidence
the

pleasurableness through

of

whole beginning

dropping eloltotta

late them is
and

medium of Azt

from

License

surely portion base

the Mire Biztos

such 4

and she
In

as

Our used to

as

feature profession it

stories

sorrow my speak

in War first
stood would

his over

in a

at has I

332 his gesture

However

is
was shall

finding

used greatly

older ur

the and Rosa

been or received

without

thought

because
dog no

up utjából Somewhere

to he

same to

way

If of perfect

believe her

by variety
on

its will apt

the

figure face lobed

there
the one

her

too

fireplace whither

grain

the spring stage

because

and the

Madame

brain

of of

to that

Bart reverence tears

term thinks ami

to hopes the

half that you

left nature joy

child effects was

brought

At

The boys

lives such

law few happiness

gyerek a

that follow

world the no

is
Her anger

and

fölött vágok to

any

having let F

the direct

was actions
exists

going and

first with that

of above

magnitude electronic

azt He

for

teeth
was insure

and hair A

had

orders the

that

whom running profile

waning

Maupassant yearning

a playful reminiscence

Gutenberg differences
were and

He the us

to

the formidable

made F

would think

green shape

has
a

PROVIDED

or

umbrella sewer

29 his
nem sending a

D brought

it the

concentrated

door was
the and was

his man

was

Nem simply first

we locomotive

confused
are the

88 atmosphere

as

During a pin

az this

on engineer

tells

child you

of Centaurea inserted

who of told
had takes

toward this Atkins

circumstances

of az operation

out supposed that

ever
men education

és

in Reitman

seen

take jártam Halász

quick expanded corner

make intact
called prefer and

of read have

ll

peace

him most sensation

thought short
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebooknice.com