Have you ever felt like you're watching your life from the outside?
Maybe you've tried traditional talk therapy and noticed you drift somewhere else the moment things get difficult. Or maybe you feel numb and far away most of the time, moving through your days while some part of you stays at a distance, watching.
When the nervous system learned to disconnect in order to survive, simply talking can't reach it. For many people who dissociate, focusing on the trauma directly is the very thing that triggers the disconnection, so traditional therapy can stall or even make things worse.
The Comprehensive Resource Model was designed specifically to work with dissociation that other approaches haven't been able to reach.
At Hayfield Healing, Dr. Maria Niitepold offers dissociation therapy in Gulf Breeze, Florida and online throughout Florida and New York.
What Dissociation Actually Is
Dissociation is the mind's way of creating distance from an experience that's too overwhelming to stay inside of. When something exceeds what you can bear, part of you steps out. At the time, this is protective. It's how people survive things that would otherwise be unsurvivable.
The problem is that the nervous system doesn't always switch it back off. What kept you safe then can keep you disconnected now, long after the danger has passed.
Dissociation lives on a spectrum. It can look like:
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Feeling detached from yourself, as if watching from outside your body
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The world feeling unreal, dreamlike, foggy, or far away
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Going numb, or feeling nothing when you'd expect to feel something
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Losing time, or having gaps where you can't account for what happened
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Spacing out or going blank, especially under stress
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Feeling like you're going through the motions of your own life
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A persistent sense of being disconnected from your body
If you recognize yourself here, you're not broken. You adapted.
Who Experiences Dissociation
Dissociation almost always traces back to trauma, particularly trauma that was prolonged, happened early, or occurred in relationships you couldn't escape.
The people I work with who experience dissociation often:
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Survived childhood abuse, neglect, or chronic instability, and learned early that leaving their body was safer than staying in it. My childhood emotional neglect page covers the quieter version of this.
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Lived through complex or prolonged trauma where dissociation became a daily survival skill
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Are recovering from narcissistic abuse or relational trauma, where disconnecting was the only way to endure the relationship
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Have a trauma or PTSD history and notice they disappear, numb out, or lose time when triggered
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Have done years of talk therapy that helped them understand their dissociation without actually reducing it
Dissociation is one of the most undertreated trauma responses, partly because so few therapists are trained to work with it directly. That isn't the case here.
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How I Work With Dissociation
Most therapy approaches were not designed for dissociation. Talk therapy in particular can struggle, because the very thing being discussed is the thing that makes you disconnect. You can end up intellectually understanding your dissociation while remaining just as checked out as before.
I work differently, using three modalities chosen specifically for their ability to reach dissociative material safely.
The Comprehensive Resource Model is the centerpiece. CRM was developed by Lisa Schwarz specifically to work with deep dissociation that other approaches couldn't touch. It builds internal resources and neurobiological safety first, so you can stay present with difficult material instead of leaving it.
EMDR includes specific protocols for working with dissociation, pacing the processing so your system isn't flooded.
Brainspotting works through the autonomic nervous system, letting us either gently move through a dissociative response or pause and return when you have more capacity.
The order matters. We don't go digging. We build the capacity to stay present first, then we work with what's underneath. Your dissociation isn't the enemy. It's a doorway into what your system has been protecting.
Is It Safe to Work With Dissociation in Therapy?
a common concern
This is the right question, and for many people it comes from experience.
A lot of people who dissociate have had therapy that made it worse. They worked with someone who pushed too fast, went straight for the trauma, and didn't know how to recognize or respond when their client checked out. They left those sessions more dysregulated than they arrived, sometimes losing the rest of the day.
That is not how this works.
Working safely with dissociation is the foundation of how I was trained, not an afterthought. We pace everything to what your system can hold. We build resources before we approach anything difficult. If you start to disconnect during a session, that isn't a problem to push through. It's information, and we work with it. You will not leave a session stranded in a dissociated state.
Slow is not a failure of trauma work. With dissociation, slow is the work.
Work With Dr. Maria Niitepold
Licensed Psychologist in Florida & New York
I'm a licensed psychologist specializing in trauma and dissociation. I work with adults who learned to leave their own experience in order to survive it, and who are ready to find their way back to feeling present and real.
I'm trained in the Comprehensive Resource Model, EMDR, and Brainspotting, with particular focus on the kinds of complex and dissociative trauma that don't respond to talk therapy alone.
The goal of our work together is to build a container strong enough to hold your deepest pain while facilitating your most profound growth.
Hayfield Healing is based at 3000 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Gulf Breeze, Florida. I serve clients in-person locally and virtually throughout Florida and New York. Through PsyPact authorization, I can also provide virtual private-pay services to clients in approximately 43 participating states.
Frequently Asked Questions
About Therapy for Dissociation
Is dissociation a sign that something is seriously wrong with me?
No. Dissociation is a normal, protective response to overwhelming experience. It exists on a spectrum, and most people who experience it are not dealing with a severe disorder. It means your nervous system did what it needed to do to keep you safe. It can also change.
Do I have to talk about my trauma in detail to work on dissociation?
No. CRM, EMDR, and Brainspotting are all designed to work without requiring detailed verbal disclosure. With dissociation in particular, building safety and presence comes first. We don't start by excavating your trauma.
What if I dissociate during a session?
We work with it rather than push past it. Recognizing and responding to dissociation in the room is central to how I was trained. You won't be left in a checked-out state at the end of a session.
I've had therapy that made my dissociation worse. How is this different?
Many people who dissociate have had exactly that experience, usually because the therapist moved too fast or didn't know how to work with dissociation directly. The pacing here is built around your nervous system's capacity. We build resources before processing, and we never push you past what you can stay present for.
Can dissociation actually go away, or do I just learn to manage it?
For many people, dissociation genuinely decreases as the underlying trauma is processed and the nervous system learns that presence is safe. This isn't only about coping skills. The goal is to reduce the need for dissociation, not just manage it once it's happening.
Does this work for depersonalization and derealization specifically?
Yes. Depersonalization, feeling detached from yourself, and derealization, the world feeling unreal, are common forms of dissociation, and they respond to this work. We address the trauma and nervous system patterns underneath them.
Do you take insurance?
I accept Aetna and Florida Blue in Florida, Aetna in New York, and VA Community Care for veterans in Florida. For clients in other PsyPact states or those without in-network coverage, I work private-pay. Full details on my fees page.
Are intensive sessions available?
Yes. I offer therapy intensives ranging from half-day to three-day formats for clients who want concentrated work or who travel from outside Florida. Details on my fees page.
You Can Come Back to Yourself.
a final word
The disconnection you live with isn't permanent, and it isn't who you are. It's what you learned to do to survive. With the right kind of work, at the right pace, your nervous system can learn that it's safe to be present again. You can feel real. You can be in your body. You can be here.
If you're ready to begin, or just want to find out if this is the right fit, book a free consultation.
— Dr. Maria Niitepold, PsyD
Trauma & Somatic Therapist
Gulf Breeze, FL · Online in Florida and New York · PsyPact authorized