If you’ve ever felt like the system wasn’t built for you… you’re not wrong.

In this episode, we’re joined by Anne and Lexi from Beauty After Bruises, a nonprofit that’s reshaping how survivors of complex trauma and dissociative identity disorder (DID) are supported when the traditional paths don’t—or won’t—show up.

We talk about what real care looks like when you’ve been through layers of harm. Whether you're a system trying to navigate healing, someone who loves a system and wants to understand, or a provider trying to get it right, this conversation offers practical insights, grounded validation, and real-world examples of what’s possible when advocacy is trauma-informed and action-oriented.

🎧 In This Episode:

* (00:49) The origin story: how Beauty After Bruises started with heartbreak and turned into healing

* (03:00) Lexi shares her experience as a system—and how it shaped their mission

* (12:30) Therapy boxes: what they are, who they help, and why they matter

* (20:20) “Trauma-informed” isn’t the gold standard—it’s the baseline

* (27:40) Why some therapists feel overwhelmed—and what systems need instead

* (33:15) When there’s nowhere to refer: facing the care gap

* (42:10) Designing support with survivors, not just for them

* (50:05) The myth of perfection: why it’s okay to show up imperfectly

* (56:30) Clinician burnout and the emotional toll of this work

* (1:02:00) What collaborative, client-centered care actually looks like

* (1:07:00) A reminder: healing happens when we’re not doing it alone

👥 About Our Guests – Beauty After BruisesFounded by Anne and Lexi, Beauty After Bruises is a nonprofit offering practical support, crisis intervention, and community care for people living with DID and complex PTSD. With a mix of professional insight and lived experience, they meet survivors where they are—whether that’s on a waitlist, in the middle of a breakdown, or just trying to survive another day.

🌐 beautyafterbruises.org📸 @beautyafterbruises💌 Support their work, apply for aid, or explore their survivor + provider resources.

📚 Resources Mentioned:

* Therapy Box Program

* Survivor Blog + Education Hub

* ISSTD (International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation)

✨ Loved this episode?Subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who wants to support a system better, or is part of one.For more system-affirming tools, grounded education, and lived experience stories, join our newsletter on Substack.

We are so excited to welcome back the Gianu System for one of our most insightful (and joy-filled!) conversations yet. In this episode, we talk about what healing looks like across time, modalities, and parts — and what it meant for the Gianu System to experience a fusion.

Together, we explore the winding, non-linear nature of trauma recovery — and how systems like ours navigate therapeutic work that meets all of us where we are.

We explore the complexities of being a system in trauma therapy: trying different modalities, navigating misattunements, and learning to getting alters communicating. We talk candidly about what it’s like when therapy doesn’t work — and what happened when they finally found something that did.

You’ll hear about the modalities they explored, including:

* 🧠 CBT (and why it didn’t land)

* 💬 IFS (what helped and what felt misaligned)

* ⚡ EMDR (how it helped — and what was hard)

* 🌀 Deep Brain Reorienting — the approach that finally changed everything

We dive into:

* Why screening tools like the DES and MID should be given more than once (because who’s fronting matters!)

* How missing a DID diagnosis can derail trauma work

* The power of self-compassion, communication, and humor in the healing process

* What fusion really is (and what it’s not)

Whether you're a therapist, a supporter, or part of a system yourself, this episode offers nuance, hope, clarity, connection, and so many "oh wow" moments.

🔁 With all the lightbulb moments and deep valiation, this is one you’ll want to come back to again and again.

Resources Mentioned:

* Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR)

* DES II

* MID Assessment

* Gianu System on Instagram

* Gianu System on TikTok

* Gianu System Navigating DID & Relationships (with their Hubs!)

Let’s Stay Connected:Follow us on IG at @healingmypartsSubscribe to our newsletter/blog at healingmyparts.substack.com

Other Specified Dissociative Disorder 1a & 1b are very similar to DID. Prompted by an OSDD1b system reaching out to share that they initially did not think that they would find a podcast dedicated to DID to be helpful to them. They shared that they were surprised to find that not only was it helpful, but they found many similarities in what they experience reflected here. It made us all wonder how many other people living with OSDD might feel the same…and how many folks with OSDD might be seeking reflections of their experiences and haven’t fully found it in the DID literature and shared stories in online spaces and haven’t yet found it. In this episode we are joined by an OSDD1a and an OSDD1b system, who both generously share parts of their journey of system discovery and healing.

Resources

An Infinite Mind

The Rings System YouTube Channel

General OSDD info

Carolyn Spring on OSDD & DID

Beauty After Bruises on Dissociative Disorders

Power to The Plurals on OSDD

Podcast Legal Disclaimer

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not establish a therapist-client relationship between the listener and the host. Always seek the guidance of a qualified mental health professional with any questions you may have regarding your mental health or medical condition. If you are in crisis or in need of immediate support, please contact a licensed mental health provider or emergency services in your area.

This episode brings a light hearted view to the challenges and adventures of daily system life. From discovering their system to the evolving ways of “what works for them,” this conversation will inspire, validate and intrigue you. The Curious System offers a wealth of resources for DID and OSDD systems and their providers to explore.

Resources referenced in this podcast episode:

The Crisses

PluralKit

Otter ai

DID We Write

DID We Write Tildy's Little Book for Littles

The Rabbit Listened book

The Rabbit Listened read aloud

CTAD Clinic

CTAD Clinic YouTube Channel

Layering of Emotion CTAD Clinic Video

Growing Up Again Book

Alix Amar LCSW

Amy Wagner LMFT, LMHC

Petals of a Rose Documentary

Healing Together Conference

An Infinite Mind

An Infinite Mind Speaker Series

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Dissociation Made Simple by Dr. Jamie Marich

Institute for Creative Mindfulness

Podcast Legal Disclaimer

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not establish a therapist-client relationship between the listener and the host. Always seek the guidance of a qualified mental health professional with any questions you may have regarding your mental health or medical condition. If you are in crisis or in need of immediate support, please contact a licensed mental health provider or emergency services in your area.

Episode 15 welcomes Melissa Parker, LMHC, (they/them), a plural therapist who has expertise in working with clients who have PTSD, DID, OSDD and who live with other trauma related effects. We took a deep dive into the challenges systems face when seeking care and finding resources. Sharing anecdotes from personal and professional experiences, we connect around the need for more compassion, love, openminded perspectives and a willingness to truly individualize care. Part of willingness to treat the individual involves professionals removing hard and fast barriers such as “a diagnosis of DID is an automatic exclusion to psychedelic assisted treatment.” As you will hear, psychedelics do have a place in treatment and can be profoundly helpful for some. Given the propensity for great harm, caution also needs to be exercised. Melissa takes us through how to explore the possibility while offering concrete suggestions for safety.

Many systems will feel both validated and inspired by this conversation, while professionals may glean a deeper understanding around the impact of language, mindset and perspectives when delivering care to systems.

Professional Bio:

Melissa enjoys working with older adolescents and adults who live with the effects of complex trauma. Melissa’s work and perspectives are rooted in anti-oppression practice, and the lenses of trauma-informed developmental, humanist, and transpersonal psychology. They take an integrative approach to therapy and utilize whole-person modalities such as EMDR, humanistic talk therapy, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP), and sensory/somatic-based interventions. Melissa also offers psychedelic integration therapy.

Melissa welcomes the opportunity to connect with individuals from all walks of life and seeks to work from a place of cultural humility and respect. They hold a special interest in providing support and therapy to mental health professionals who have lived experience with mental health concerns, trauma, and dissociation. They also have an interest and experience in supporting individuals who seek to integrate profound spiritual experiences into daily life.

In addition to their clinical work, Melissa draws on their experience as a trauma survivor and clinical professional living with PTSD and DID, to provide anti-ableism-based training, supervision, and consultation to therapists who are interested in deepening their work with clients who live with dissociation

RESOURCES

Melissa Parker LMHC

MAPS

Dance Safe Fentanyl Test Strips

Melissa Parker on Braving The Way Podcast

Podcast Legal Disclaimer

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not establish a therapist-client relationship between the listener and the host. Always seek the guidance of a qualified mental health professional with any questions you may have regarding your mental health or medical condition. If you are in crisis or in need of immediate support, please contact a licensed mental health provider or emergency services in your area.

Raw, poignant and real. In discussing all things system accountability, Adrienne & Co lets us into their lives and what it’s been like navigating betrayals, fusions, and integration while simultaneously beginning a new life with their soulmate who is also a system. Adrienne & Co describes how they showing up for all parts of the system with love and compassion. They share where they’ve been and why they’ve taken a step back from advocacy.

This episode is full of important takeaways. Whether you’re a system or a provider who treats systems, this rich conversation is filled with examples of the work it takes for a system of parts to truly work together. Whether life is at a high or low point or anywhere in between, Adrienne & Co shows us all how to show up with a formidable combination of strength, vulnerability and compassion that ultimately moves healing forward.

We hope you are as moved and inspired as we are by this conversation.

Where to find Adrienne & Co

Adrienne & Co on Instagram

Adrienne & Co's Website

Mentorship Group

Psychology Today Blog

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Podcast Legal Disclaimer

The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Listening to this podcast does not establish a therapist-client relationship between the listener and the host. Always seek the guidance of a qualified mental health professional with any questions you may have regarding your mental health or medical condition. If you are in crisis or in need of immediate support, please contact a licensed mental health provider or emergency services in your area.