1 hr 12 min
Healing Together in Community with Jaime Pollack, Founder of An Infinite Mind & Our Mutual Friend Larry Ruhl, Artist & Survivor Braving the Way with Dr. Fletch
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- Mental Health
Today's episode is one among friends, who also happen to be colleagues and living with DID - so get ready for some laughter, random comments about Shepard's Pie, some very honest truths, and three humans who are working hard to make a difference in the DID community, while honoring themselves and their PARTs.
Today I'm joined once again with Jaime Pollack and Larry Ruhl (bios below). As we all recently attended the annual An Infinite Mind conference, today we are debriefing about the conference and answering questions we received from the community, with truth and openness.
We go into the joys of being super connected with other like-minded humans, but also recognizing and honoring when a sacred pause is needed. We delve into what healing looks like for each of us (all very different!), and how it's okay to be angry and have rage. Even anger towards your PARTs and having DID, and how to channel that anger and rage through healthy outlets.
We also talk about how we engage with our littles, working with PARTs that might scare us, and our hopes for the community - where some day, perhaps mental health is just seen as health. Join us for laughter, insight, and authenticity in this conversation.
Jaime Pollack lives in Central Florida where she works as a district Pre-K special education resource teacher. She also works part-time as an in-home early interventionist for special needs children aged birth to three. In 2005, she was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) resulting from childhood trauma. Jaime searched for support only to find there were very limited resources available. Her efforts to find support for herself led her to seek out other survivors living with the disorder. As she found others living with DID, she witnessed firsthand the challenges they shared and decided to shift her focus to help others, like herself, living with DID. In July of 2007, she started one of the only peer-led DID support groups in the country, which led to the creation of An Infinite Mind in January of 2008.Her passion comes from the hope that people with DID can find the support and resources they need and will no longer fear the stigma surrounding the disorder.
Vist the An Infinite Mind website:
https://www.aninfinitemind.org/
Connect with Jaime and AIM
https://www.facebook.com/aninfinitemind
@an_infinitemind
Larry Ruhl
Larry Ruhl is a queer artist and writer living in between the Hudson Valley and Portugal. His visual work centers on trauma, reflected in mixed media, collage, and encaustics. His writing explores the effects of childhood sexual abuse and ways in which we recover and heal. His first book, Breaking the Ruhls, was released in 2018. Larry also serves as a board member for Taking Back Ourselves, which facilitates weekends of recovery for female survivors of sexual abuse, and is a registered speaker with the RAINN network (Rape Abuse Incest National Network). He previously served as a board member at Male Survivor. He also spoke at colleges and retreats to increase awareness of sexual abuse against men and boys. Today he shares his story publicly to spread awareness and to help others shed the shame and stigma associated with sexual abuse. He graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), with a degree in Display & Exhibit Design, and worked as a creative director at a textile firm for ten years until opening his own home furnishings/interior design business in 2004.
Connect with Larry
https://www.breakingtheruhls.com
@larryruhl on instagram
If you loved today's episode, please share your favorite takeaways by screenshotting this episode and tagging @drafletcher on instagram!
Alterchology®️
CONNECT WITH DR.FLETCH
Follow Dr. Fletc
Today's episode is one among friends, who also happen to be colleagues and living with DID - so get ready for some laughter, random comments about Shepard's Pie, some very honest truths, and three humans who are working hard to make a difference in the DID community, while honoring themselves and their PARTs.
Today I'm joined once again with Jaime Pollack and Larry Ruhl (bios below). As we all recently attended the annual An Infinite Mind conference, today we are debriefing about the conference and answering questions we received from the community, with truth and openness.
We go into the joys of being super connected with other like-minded humans, but also recognizing and honoring when a sacred pause is needed. We delve into what healing looks like for each of us (all very different!), and how it's okay to be angry and have rage. Even anger towards your PARTs and having DID, and how to channel that anger and rage through healthy outlets.
We also talk about how we engage with our littles, working with PARTs that might scare us, and our hopes for the community - where some day, perhaps mental health is just seen as health. Join us for laughter, insight, and authenticity in this conversation.
Jaime Pollack lives in Central Florida where she works as a district Pre-K special education resource teacher. She also works part-time as an in-home early interventionist for special needs children aged birth to three. In 2005, she was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) resulting from childhood trauma. Jaime searched for support only to find there were very limited resources available. Her efforts to find support for herself led her to seek out other survivors living with the disorder. As she found others living with DID, she witnessed firsthand the challenges they shared and decided to shift her focus to help others, like herself, living with DID. In July of 2007, she started one of the only peer-led DID support groups in the country, which led to the creation of An Infinite Mind in January of 2008.Her passion comes from the hope that people with DID can find the support and resources they need and will no longer fear the stigma surrounding the disorder.
Vist the An Infinite Mind website:
https://www.aninfinitemind.org/
Connect with Jaime and AIM
https://www.facebook.com/aninfinitemind
@an_infinitemind
Larry Ruhl
Larry Ruhl is a queer artist and writer living in between the Hudson Valley and Portugal. His visual work centers on trauma, reflected in mixed media, collage, and encaustics. His writing explores the effects of childhood sexual abuse and ways in which we recover and heal. His first book, Breaking the Ruhls, was released in 2018. Larry also serves as a board member for Taking Back Ourselves, which facilitates weekends of recovery for female survivors of sexual abuse, and is a registered speaker with the RAINN network (Rape Abuse Incest National Network). He previously served as a board member at Male Survivor. He also spoke at colleges and retreats to increase awareness of sexual abuse against men and boys. Today he shares his story publicly to spread awareness and to help others shed the shame and stigma associated with sexual abuse. He graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), with a degree in Display & Exhibit Design, and worked as a creative director at a textile firm for ten years until opening his own home furnishings/interior design business in 2004.
Connect with Larry
https://www.breakingtheruhls.com
@larryruhl on instagram
If you loved today's episode, please share your favorite takeaways by screenshotting this episode and tagging @drafletcher on instagram!
Alterchology®️
CONNECT WITH DR.FLETCH
Follow Dr. Fletc
1 hr 12 min