Episode Summary

Some people discover they’re a system in a single moment.

Others… don’t.

In this episode, we’re joined by Mike and the Committee, a system who came to understand themselves not through diagnosis—but through patterns, reactions, and a question that changed everything:

What protected me?

From there, their journey unfolds in a way that’s messy, human, and deeply relatable.

We talk about what it actually looks like to live as a system while navigating work, relationships, parenting—and the internal chaos that can come with it.

Inside this conversation:

* When system awareness feels more like chaos than clarity

* Learning to recognize which part is activated—and why that matters

* The shift from fearing intense or “dark” parts to understanding their role

* A simple grounding tool they use in real time

* Why safety—not insight—is the foundation of healing

* What happens when you push too fast internally

* The role of the body in healing (and why it doesn’t always happen in therapy rooms)

* The impact of stigma, silence, and being misunderstood in the outside world

This episode doesn’t offer a neat, linear path.It offers something more useful:

A lived-in look at what it means to build trust inside a system—slowly, imperfectly, and over time.

If parts of your experience feel overwhelming…If you’ve ever questioned whether you’re “doing this right”…If you’ve been trying to make sense of something that doesn’t follow clean rules…

You may find a mirror in here.

⏱️ Timestamps

* 00:01:05 – Meet Mike & the Committee

* 00:02:07 – The question that changed everything

* 00:02:18 – A simple tool for overwhelm (BAR)

* 00:05:22 – When system awareness feels like chaos

* 00:08:21 – Rethinking the parts you’re afraid of

* 00:13:49 – An unexpected turning point

* 00:17:02 – From “what’s wrong with me?” to something else

* 00:24:20 – The cost of pushing too fast internally

* 00:35:40 – Stigma, silence, and real-world consequences

* 00:46:00 – Advocacy and being seen

Resources

Books:

The Many Faces of Me

The Throne Within

Etsy Shop:

HealWithCourage

For more resources visit: healingmyparts.org

Healing My Parts Substack

@healingmyparts on Instagram

Thank you for listening! 🩷🫶💜

Episode Show Notes

Healing My Parts Podcast — with Body Wise: Many Selves, One Body

This episode sits inside the lived reality of DID—specifically polyfragmentation—and what healing looks like when the body becomes part of the work, not just the story.

We’re joined by Body Wise: Many Selves, One Body, a polyfragmented system and somatic trauma therapist, who shares openly about system discovery, co-consciousness, and the slow, often non-linear process of building safety in the body.

There’s honesty here about how hard this work is.And also… a grounded kind of hope.

In This Episode

* What polyfragmentation can actually look like from the inside

* Discovering DID suddenly—and skipping denial

* Living as a co-conscious system (and holding a lot of memory)

* Why somatic work can feel terrifying—and still be essential

* How healing often happens in very small, tolerable steps

* Trusting the internal intelligence of the system

* What helps (and what doesn’t) in therapy for complex systems

Timestamps

00:00 — Opening + podcast intention

01:18 — Meet the guest (polyfragmented system + therapist)

02:29 — Sudden DID discovery

05:01 — Understanding polyfragmentation + subsystems

07:28 — Co-consciousness and holding memory

11:33 — Why somatic work changed everything

17:22 — Healing slowly: building safety in the body

21:02 — Trusting your system’s internal guidance

33:04 — Somatic flashbacks + coping tools

43:49 — Rewriting trauma through the body

For Listeners

If your experience doesn’t match what you’ve seen elsewhere, remember:

There isn’t one way to be a system.There isn’t one way to heal.

Resources

Connect with Body Wise Many Selves One Body on their Instagram: bodywise.manyselves.onebody

Connect with them at their Natural Holistics Practice website.

For more resources visit: healingmyparts.org

Healing My Parts Substack

@healingmyparts on Instagram

Thank you for listening! 🩷🫶💜

What happens when trauma doesn’t just shape memories — but reshapes the body itself?

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Frank Putnam, one of the most influential researchers in the field of childhood trauma and dissociation. For more than four decades, Dr. Putnam has studied how early maltreatment affects development, health, and survival across the lifespan.

His groundbreaking Female Growth and Development Study has followed survivors of childhood abuse for more than 35 years, revealing something profound: trauma doesn’t only affect the mind. It changes biology, aging, health, and even the next generation.

Together we explore how dissociation develops in childhood, why trauma survivors often experience earlier physical illness, and what the science actually tells us about healing.

This conversation bridges research, clinical care, and lived experience — offering a rare look at the long arc of trauma and the resilience of those who survive it.

Key Moments

03:20 — How childhood trauma can accelerate biological aging09:45 — Dissociation as a survival strategy, not a disorder18:10 — The origins of the Female Growth and Development Study32:40 — The “tentacles” of trauma across physical health and development46:15 — What clinicians often misunderstand about dissociation58:30 — Why stabilizing daily life must come before trauma processing

About Our Guest

Frank W. Putnam, MD is a professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and one of the leading researchers on childhood trauma and dissociation.

His newest book, Old Before Their Time: A Scientific Life Investigating How Maltreatment Harms Children and the Adults They Become, brings together decades of research on the lifelong impact of childhood abuse.

Who This Episode Is For

• Survivors navigating dissociation, DID, or complex trauma• Clinicians working with trauma and dissociative systems• Anyone interested in the intersection of science, trauma, and healing

Resources

📘 Old Before Their Time — Dr. Frank Putnam 📩Contact Dr. Frank Putnam 🌀About Dr. Putnam 🌐 healingmyparts.org

What if dissociative identity disorder is a brilliant, life-saving strategy?

In this moving and grounded conversation, therapist and author Sally Maslansky shares her lived experience of DID and the therapeutic relationship that changed everything.

Diagnosed in the 1990s (when it was still called MPD), Sally entered treatment during a cultural moment steeped in fear and shame. But her therapist, Dr. Dan Siegel, offered something radically different:

Not “What’s wrong with you?”But “What did your mind do to survive?”

From disorganized attachment to learned secure attachment.From fragmentation to fluidity.From terror without context to memory with meaning.

⏱ Timestamps

00:04 – Romania, terror, and the shock of not remembering childhoodAdoption awakens something she can’t ignore.

08:58 – The diagnosis in the 90sFrom “Am I crazy?” to “This is a brilliant adaptation.”

11:33 – Disorganized attachment: fear without solutionHow the brain fragments to survive.

14:37 – Parts as verbs, not nounsWhy dissociated states are processes — not separate people.

21:46 – What healing actually feels likeMemory intact. Suffering over.

33:55 – Implicit vs. explicit memory“If I’m hysterical, it’s historical.”

If you’ve ever feared that healing means losing your parts, this episode offers another picture.

Memory intact.Suffering over.Safety carried securely from the inside.

Links & Resources

Sally’s Website

Sally’s Book A Brilliant Adaptation

Sally at the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium March 20th

Sally & Dr Dan Siegel Speaking March 11th

The Wheel of Awareness

Dr Dan Siegel’s Website

Dr Ruth Lanius Website

Dr. Bethany Brand’s Website

HealingMyParts.org

In this deeply nuanced conversation, we’re joined by author and survivor Cheryl Rainfield to explore the realities of cult torture, dissociative identity, and the layered impact of organized abuse.

We unpack what it means to reclaim the word torture, how cult-created programming functions inside dissociative systems, and how healing unfolds when compassion replaces fear.

We explore:

• Why some survivors reclaim the term cult torture• How programming operates — and how it can be gently dismantled• The distinction between cult-created parts and other trauma-based or persecutory parts• Subtle indicators that may suggest a history of organized abuse• Why relational repair, attachment, and emotional responsiveness matter profoundly in treatment• What therapists often misunderstand about working with survivors of organized abuse• How systems can begin building trust with cult created parts

This conversation does not sensationalize. It names. It clarifies. And it holds hope.

Cheryl speaks candidly about what survivors need most: to be believed, to be heard, and to be met with steady compassion.

Whether you are a survivor, clinician, or someone seeking to better understand complex dissociation, we hope this episode offers clarity, validation, and thoughtful guidance.

Time Stamps

00:00 – Introduction + reclaiming the term “cult torture”08:40 – What programming is and how it functions21:15 – Cult-created parts vs. persecutory/trauma parts36:20 – Subtle signs of organized abuse histories52:10 – What therapists need to understand1:06:30 – Modifying modalities (EMDR, grounding, attachment needs)1:20:45 – Community, writing, and reclaiming voice1:32:00 – Hope for survivors + practical next steps

Content Note

This episode discusses organized abuse, dissociation, and suicidality. Please listen at your own pace and care for yourself as needed.

Connect with Cheryl

CherylRainfield.com

Cheryl’s Books

Cheryl’s Social Media

TikTok @Cherylrainfield

Instagram @Cherylrainfield

Facebook Cheryl Rainfield

YouTube Cheryl.Rainfield

Substack Cheryl Rainfield

Cheryl’s Articles

Some Signs and Symptoms of Cult Torture and How To Help:

Article on cult torture and programming:

Cheryl’s Links to Resources on Cult torture and DID

Cheryl’s Recommended Books on cult torture/RAMCOA:

Becoming Yourself by Alison Miller

Healing The Unimaginable by Alison Miller

Demystifying Mind Control & Ritual Abuse

Safe Passage to Healing by Chrystine Oksana.

Cheryl’s Recommended Websites:

Survivorship.org

ra-info.org

ritualabuse.us

endritualabuse.org

grassroots-ra-mc-collective.org

In this episode, our guest, Cyndi Bennett, speaks publicly about their system for the first time and shares parts of their personal journey before turning toward their work supporting trauma survivors in professional spaces. We talk about business boundaries, nervous system capacity, internal consent, and what it means to navigate careers and leadership as a plural system. This conversation is for systems thinking about work, sustainability, and how to make decisions that honor more than one internal voice.

⏱️ Timestamps

* 00:02:15 – Cyndi introduces themselves and their plural system

* 00:06:45 – Building a coaching practice as a system

* 00:14:20 – On boundaries, burnout, and protecting your bandwidth

* 00:21:00 – Why coaching isn’t therapy (and why that matters)

* 00:33:40 – Internal communication tips from Cyndi’s own parts

* 00:42:55 – Reflections on authenticity, professionalism, and trust

* 00:55:30 – Final thoughts: honoring all parts, including the messy ones

Connect with Cyndi: https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com