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Old June 28th, 2008, 08:33 AM
Sandra Paulsen Sandra Paulsen is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Bainbridge Island WA
Posts: 207
Default Re: Introjected perpetrator

Speaking in general terms again, since I don't have the info to advise on your specific situation, for most clients who are quite dissociative, EMDR WON"T WORK if the "highest honcho" isn't on board, which is often (but not always) an introject of the perpetrator. It will just get stuck, because the introject identifies more with the perpetrator than the victim, and so will keep healing and talking about any secrets quiet. Also, that introject may think the victim is a nobody, and doesn't deserve to be heard or to heal.

Treatment (I'm finally getting around to treatment) typically involves the following and the sequence is very important:
1) it's not just the "front" part/s of self that need to be on board,
2) there needs to be a means to speak to parts of self, often the "conference room"
3) one mustn't prematurely get involved in talking to the child parts, because that may just inflame the perpetrator introject,
4) the therapist needs to address the highest ranking honcho/s first, and get them on board with therapy by:
5) orienting them, very concretely to Person, Please and Time. For example (and I am making this up), "By the way, Father-Part-of-the-Self, did you know that you are in the body with Greta-Marie? [he thinks that's ridiculous], "Don't take my word for it, but here, look in this mirror -- whose face is that through which eyes you are looking? And did you know it is 2008? and she is 47 years old? [he thinks that's bogus], look through the eyes at the body, if you would. Is that a child's body? Or Father's body? and here, look at this magazine, it says San Francisco Magazine, July 2008. And this newspaper. See? She isn't in Miami any more. And you aren't the external father, but an internal likeness of him. I'm guessing you originally came to protector her. Thank you for holding the Father energy all these years. A thankless job, but someone had to do it. Thanks for making her keep the secrets, that helped her survive. Do you have a burden too? [nods sadly]. I'll help you with your burden too, Father Part of the Self. You're not on the hook for his crimes, you took this job when she was a little girl. The shame was not yours, it was his."
There's a lot more too it, this is a summary, but once this (or a longer version of this) has been accomplished (sometimes more than once), and its harder with a more dissociative person, THEN the therapy can begin, and for some, the EMDR can begin, if other things are in place.

There is more to it, and the only place I know to find it will be in my "Looking Through the Eyes" book coming out this year. It is written for both the public and professionals and will have over a hundred of my original cartoons to illustrate key concepts of ego state work, including introject work.
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