Working with Voices and Dissociative Parts: A trauma-informed approach

In this groundreaking book, Dolores Mosquera shows us how to maximize the presence of voices as the way to reach important clinical goals. Instead of being afraid of the voices, or seeing them as a sign of schizophrenia, or something to get rid of, she explains to us, step by step and in the clearest way, how to work with these voices with our clients. Throughout the book, she teaches us to encourage our clients to start exploring and listening to the voices instead of avoiding them; to lower the dissociative phobias towards the voices and understand and validate their functions: to identify alternative ways of responding, and to address the “voices’ needs” and missing pieces. By doing so, the system reaches agreements, cooperation and, ultimately, starts working as a true team. The use of a trauma-informed approach creates an effective framework so both therapist and client can understand the importance, the reasons, and the protective goals of the different part of the Self. This helps to keep the right pacing, without hurrying any trauma-processing work, and avoids the reprise of phobic blockages or triggered re-experiencing. It is instead possible to create a relational container that offers safety while “moving forward.” The reader will also find explanations of the application of specific procedures and techniques that come directly from the author’s experience as a trauma-therapist. Five detailed clinical cases follow the first, more theoretical part. They are, in itself, “a book within a book” thanks to the richness of the clinical material and the precise comments of the author, interspersed throughout the text.