On Earth as it is in Heaven

Thomas Lee Abshier, ND
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Christian Counselor

Naturopathic Physician

Political Philosopher
Physicist-Theologian-Author

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Marriage & Personal Counseling

Medical Consultations

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1414 NE 109th Ave.

Portland, Oregon

(503) 255-9500

drthomas@naturedox.com

 

Dissociative Identity Disorder

By Thomas Lee Abshier, ND

9/16/2009

Joni was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder by her pastor, and worked with a prayer counselor for a period of 3 years to come to a place of relative peace.  She had originally come to me because of an extreme anorexic wasting condition, having lost 40 lbs, coming in to see me when she was 112 lbs.  She was 5’7” tall, and obviously was unable to stop the loss.  I prescribed coconut cream and acidophilous, and began marriage counseling with her.  Joni was adopted, had been molested by her older brothers, and date raped by her finance, who she divorced after 20 years of marriage upon finding that he was bisexual and a pedophile, having molested her daughters.  Her birth mother had attempted to kill her in the womb by beating on her pregnant abdomen.  Her childhood was characterized by being told she was wrong whenever she tried to defend against any aggressive or boundary violating behavior.  Joni’s second husband Fred, was raised by a mother who was emotionally and rationally challenged.  

The marriage between Joni and Fred ended when Joni could no longer tolerate Fred’s grumpy attitude toward her.  She deeply felt Fred’s critical attitude toward her, and this produced an intolerable pain, which had caused her to want to die, which had led to her inability to eat and digest.  The supplements, and marriage counseling took the edge off of the pain, and she gained weight back up to 135 lbs over a period of several years.  But, the irritation of Fred’s critical, grumpy demeanor was still strong, and Joni did not feel she could continue to maintain her health and life if she stayed married to Fred.  

Joni suffered from extremely low self image, and confidence in her own ability to judge wrong behavior because of having been punished so severely by her adopted family.  She felt she also had a spirit of rejection and murder had been put on her by her birth mother in those intra utero attempts to kill Joni.   

Thus, the problem that Joni came in to see me about.  She was attempting to overcome the bodily sensation of guilt, worthlessness, self depreciation.  She felt like she had no place on earth where she belonged, and that she truly had no value.  She felt this was due to the rejection of both birth mother, and others in the family.

Joni felt that she could lose herself in the pain and confusion of not knowing whether she had the right to judge her victimizers.  She attributed this sense of confusion to a Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) state, which means that she felt there was an “alter” or other personality state that she went into that she was not aware of being in, that was fully a different personality state than the one she desired to be in as a conscious, moral, and mature adult.  

Treatment:

Joni was overwhelmed with the fear that she would not be able to resist falling into fully believing that she was of no value, confused, and without refuge if she allowed herself to feel that feeling.  As a result, she was constantly quoting scripture, and trying to remind herself that “She was the righteousness of God”, that “She was wonderfully and fearfully made.” and that “God knew her while she was being knit together in the womb.”  

Of course all of this positive thinking, quoting scripture, and dwelling on the promises of God was valuable, good, and right.  But, as a transformative therapy to bring her to a new pleasant mental state, it was not getting her out of her constant fear of being overwhelmed by the negative thought state she was tempted by.

I suggested the following:

• Allow yourself to be in that negative state,
• Fully feel it, be with it, observe it, and see it from the position of your spirit watching your soul.  
• When you are fully comfortable being in that place of neutral observation, to change your perspective to the opposite side.
• Choose to put on the positive perspective of your worth being high, and valuable in God’s eyes, and know that His perspective is true.  
• Keep forming, holding, knowing, and rationalizing this perspective of your intrinsic value until it is clear and real on an intellectual level.
• Then, return to observing and feeling the perspective of the overwhelmed, captured, confused child, and observe the world from that perspective.  
• Repeat this procedure, going back and forth between the two realms, many times.
• Keep repeating it until the transition between viewing the two realms is effortless, and without suffering.   
• At that point the therapy is complete, and the mental/emotional perspective can simply be chosen by the will and the moral commitment.

Theoretical understanding of the Therapy:

Jesus died on the cross between two immoral men.  He allowed himself to be put in the worst possible position that a man could experience, being unjustly killed, and then descending into hell.  But, he was righteous, and death could not hold Him, so he could have resurected Himself, but He didn’t have to do it because the Father raised Him from Hell, raised Him up to Heaven, and returned Him to life.  

Hell is real, God made it.  Denying its reality is futile.  But, we should not give it more power than it is actually able to exert in our lives.  

When we allow ourselves to feel the full pain of our mental state, we are in hell.  But, we can leave that state at anytime by submitting our minds to God.  Hell has very little power of its own – in ordinary circumstance, hell exercises the power to put thoughts in the mind and thus stimulate emotions.  Thus, most of the power hell has in our lives is what we give it.  

When we simply observe the temptations of hell and do not act upon them, we have not given hell the power of our will and actions.  In so doing we have “resisted the devil”.  When we see, but do not act upon the feelings, thoughts, and desires stimulated by the forces of hell, we are visitors, but not residents of hell.  

Much of the power that hell has over our mind and emotions comes from our own passions and desire that is stimulated by the implanted thoughts or the remembered memories.  The mental imagery and temptations of hell have power if these thoughts and memories have a hook.  By hook, I mean there is something incomplete in our understanding of life, which allows an emotion or belief to exist which leaves one susceptible to temptation to moral error.

Incompleteness exists in the following situations:

• When we face a circumstance of life where we don’t understand the moral implication or message of the moment.  
• When we have been accused of violation, and we do not confess, repent by changing our heart and mind, and restore the damage we have caused.
• When we have been accused incorrectly of a violation, and we accept the condemnation, and hold a grudge, or hold a view of self as a victim.
• When we are cursed, by own own words, our beliefs, or the beliefs of those around us.  
• When we are in a state of fear that immobilizes, rather than activates toward preparation.  

When we are incomplete, we have not learned how to take unrighteous circumstances to completion.  Completion means, to take action, internally and externally, in the way pleasing, prescribed, and in the nature of God.  

Commitment to completion, is on the pathway toward completion, but it is not complete.  Completion comes in its fullness when I have done the following, to the best of my ability, power, and authority:

• The internal posture is solid and comfortable in righteous understanding.
• The necessary actions have been taken to teach lessons, repair damage and establish proper boundaries.
• The score of justice is balanced.
• There is only love and compassion felt for those involved in the circumstance, regardless of their attitude, words, and actions toward me.