Some members of a dissociative identity system are stuck in trauma time. This means they are experiencing old traumas of the past as if they are still happening right now. This is a horrific circumstance which is causing ongoing and unnecessary suffering that is sharp and vivid.
Parts or alters stuck in trauma time have no awareness or knowledge of the body’s changed circumstances and no knowledge or awareness that time has passed. These parts or alters still believe the body is little and mostly helpless or that the living situation continues to be violent or traumatizing. They are unaware that the body has grown up and lives in a very different and safer situation.
These parts are reliving past traumatic events over and over on an endless loop, waiting in vain to be protected or rescued. The suffering they are experiencing is awful and, tragically, as long as they remain stuck in trauma time, they will be unable to recover from the trauma.
The obvious solution to this is to help those system members understand that the body is no longer experiencing what they are remembering and experiencing as the present. Of course, saying this is far easier than making it happen. If it was simple, no parts would still be living in trauma time, causing suffering that affects many parts of the system.
Helping Alters Get Out of Trauma Time
If any members of your system who are aware of the present are able to communicate with the parts stuck in trauma time, one thing they can do to start laying the groundwork for recovery is to tell those parts about how the body has grown up and how the situation is different now. They are not likely to believe this the first time they are told, or the second, or the third. You will have to tell them over and over until they start to wonder if it might be true. You can try to show them evidence that your present is different now, as well. You are the rescuer they’ve been waiting for.