Meeting Area Screening and Assessment: Announcements and Updates
The Meeting Area Screening and Assessment (MASA) is WHI’s critical diagnostic and preparatory tool, designed to achieve Unconscious Informed Consent (UIC) prior to engagement in any deep healing work. MASA fundamentally addresses the need for accurate clinical definition and assessment of transdiagnostic conditions that mainstream psychological and medical professions have failed to operationalize.
Core Features and Purpose:
• Operationalizing the Unconscious: MASA is based on the foundational premise that the physical body is the psychological unconscious. By accessing the “Meeting Area” (a hybrid of the Dissociative Table concept), Healers can directly communicate with the body and the ego states (past, present, and future selves) residing within.
• Comprehensive Assessment: MASA is a structured, scripted approach used by providers and clients alike. It screens and assesses several critical dimensions that dictate readiness for healing:
◦ Degrees of conscious awareness and unconscious access.
◦ Range of dissociation and stage of universal addiction and recovery.
◦ Level of moral development.
◦ Identification of dissociations and addictions.
• Obtaining Unconscious Informed Consent (UIC): The key function of MASA is to ensure that all aspects of the self, including the younger, traumatized parts, are consciously and unconsciously willing to participate in the healing process. It lowers treatment resistance by providing feedback on unconscious occurrences.
• Diagnostic Direction: MASA utilizes a Light system (Red, Yellow, Green) for instantaneous feedback, reflecting the Constant Installation of Present Orientation (CIPOS), which measures how present a client is during the orientation phase.
• Training Availability: WHI offers a dedicated 1-day MASA training, designed to increase knowledge of the ADM framework and the clinical assessment and screening of dissociation and addiction, enabling participants to apply MASA to their personal and professional lives.
The Meeting Area Screening and Assessment (MASA): Reclaiming Unconscious Informed Consent
As a PhD expert dedicated to advanced dissociation-informed care, the Wounded Healers Institute (WHI) is proud to present the Meeting Area Screening and Assessment (MASA)—a qualitative framework designed to restore integrity, awareness, and healing potential for professionals and individuals alike. MASA is the foundational step in the Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH).
MASA is not merely an intake tool; it is a profound process of re-education and assessment that utilizes the principle that the physical body is the psychological unconscious. This understanding allows us to honor the wisdom within and achieve Unconscious Informed Consent (UIC).
Section 1: The Core Philosophy and Purpose
MASA emerged from proprietary qualitative research that revealed the current definitions of trauma, dissociation, and addiction were inaccurate and inadequately operationalized by established psychological systems. MASA provides an accurate assessment solution for providers and clients, ensuring transparency and reducing treatment resistance.
1. Unconscious Informed Consent (UIC)
Traditional informed consent is limited by the conscious mind. MASA addresses the inherent flaw in conventional care by requiring UIC, acknowledging that true agreement must involve the body’s wisdom.
- Definition: UIC accepts that the body is the unconscious and that it communicates through a differential system (I/O, like a computer) and therefore cannot lie.
- Application: MASA is required before engaging in any medicine, treatment, coaching, or care. It resolves conflicts clients feel when giving informed consent without knowing their unconscious motivations.
- Healer Standard: A Healer uses MASA to obtain unconscious approval, which measures the client’s preparedness, motivation, unconscious intentions, and level of development.
2. Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) Integration
MASA is the first step in the PWH, which is dissociation-informed and recovery-focused. It is based on the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM), which holds that addiction is a manifestation of trauma-related dissociation. MASA is designed to assess and screen for:
- Levels of consciousness and awareness.
- Normative and pathological ranges of dissociation.
- Stage of universal addiction and recovery.
- Universal addictions not recognized in the DSM, such as perfectionism, altruism, and ambition.
Section 2: MASA Mechanism and Application
MASA is a hybrid qualitative method (based on the Dissociative Table concept) that maps the client’s internal world to gain objectivity and support transformation.
1. The Meeting Area and Internal Parts
MASA utilizes a guided process to establish the “Meeting Area,” which serves as a psychological representation of the client’s internal collective or implicit experience.
- Inner World Recognition: The process begins by asking clients to recognize their “inner world inside of you like rings in a tree, inner child, or past versions of yourself”.
- Inviting All Selves: The Healer invites all ages and aspects of the client (“every you, you have ever been”) into this safe, imaginary, and metaphorical space.
- Relational Focus: The Meeting Area helps the provider understand what is unconsciously occurring and facilitates a relationship between the client’s different parts, lowering treatment resistance.
2. Key Screening Resources and Techniques
MASA integrates essential trauma stabilization skills within its protocol, particularly aligned with Phases 1 (History) and 2 (Preparation) of EMDR Therapy.
| Technique | Purpose within MASA |
|---|---|
| Calm Place / Safe Space | Creating a comfortable, safe space for all ages of the self. |
| Two Containers | Creating strong mental containers to safely store troubling memories—one for memories ready to be released, and one for memories not yet ready. |
| Photo Album | Storing positive memories to serve as a resource during the healing journey. |
| Bulk Blink | An intervention offered to clients to clear out memories they are ready to release, often involving an enjoyable activity and rapid blinking to promote adaptive shifts. |
| Healing Light | An imaginal resource offered as part of the meditation approach supported by WHI research. |
| Shame Shape and Color | A specific resource used to address toxic shame, often associated with developmental trauma. |
3. The Traffic Light System (Pacing and Readiness)
The MASA script employs a light system (Red, Yellow, Green) to evaluate the client’s instantaneous level of motivation, unconscious agreement, and readiness for deeper memory work (Reprocessing).
- Green Light: Indicates readiness (e.g., motivation level of 7 or greater to address memories in the containers).
- Yellow Light: Signals caution (e.g., parts are present but not available, or there is partial change); requires open-ended, polite questions to explore what is important about the discord.
- Red Light: Stop the process immediately; necessitates grounding and psychoeducation.
Section 3: Benefits and Re-Education Outcomes
MASA is a key component of our re-education program, which aims to provide clarity and restore autonomy to the individual.
- Measure Sanity and Regulation: Combined with quantitative EEG (qEEG) analysis, MASA can measure an individual’s consciousness and level of regulation, helping confirm whether they are “sane” (regulated) or “mentally sick” (dysregulated).
- Privacy Protection: MASA allows clients to keep their personal history and psychological makeup completely private from potentially “corrupt systems” (e.g., courts, insurance, legal entities).
- Universal Applicability: MASA is applicable to anyone and any profession, including coaches, paraprofessionals, licensed clinicians, parents, and self-help communities.
- Improved Outcomes: By establishing MASA first, providers ensure proper pacing, prevent abreactions or dissociative expressions, and improve outcomes for trauma resolution methods like EMDR and Brainspotting.
Enrollment and Program Details
The Wounded Healers Institute (WHI) invites individuals who identify as Wounded Healers, licensed clinicians, and informed citizens to engage in our re-education and specialized training programs, starting with MASA.
How to Sign Up for MASA Training (PWH)
MASA training is integrated into the Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH) curriculum.
- Application: Complete the online application.
- Qualitative Essay: Submit a paper, essay, poem, or video outlining your personal “Wounded Healer Journey”. We invite your qualitative process into our own.
- MASA Interview (Required for PWH): A 2-hour MASA interview with Dr. Adam is required for the Path of the Wounded Healer training. This assessment determines your re-education needs.
- Fee: $500.00 (This fee is not always needed for those who hold valid professional licenses certain trainings).
- Acceptance: Upon acceptance, further details will be provided.
Prerequisite Materials (Mandatory Reading)
To ensure foundational understanding of our dissociation-informed philosophy, all participants must review the prerequisite readings prior to training:
- The Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) Class/Dissertation.
- The PWH Manual (which includes the Memory Reconsolidation and Psychedelic Therapy paper).
- The Mindful Meditation Class + (MMC+) (to be discussed in the interview).
PWH Training and Certification Overview
The PWH training focuses on memory reconsolidation (MR) through trauma resolution methods, emphasizing Mindful Dissociation and Unconscious Informed Consent.
- PWH Trained Status: Requires completion of PWH 1 and PWH 2, plus 3 hours of individual consultation or 10 hours of group consultation.
- PWH Certification: Requires completion of PWH 1–3, 6 individual consultations (20 group hours), 200 hours of documented session time, and completion of a capstone project.
Note on EMDRIA: This training is explicitly NOT an approved EMDRIA or Brainspotting International curriculum due to fundamental philosophical differences and adherence to Moral-Ethics over corporate compliance. We offer EMDR Healing and Brainspotting are meditation based and memory work is an innate universal neurological process that should be open-source.
Are you ready to discover the truth held within your unconscious body?
We teach people to heal with adaptive dissociation or mindful dissociation through body and mind regulation, spiritual practices, and conscious use of psychedelic medicines.
Contact us today at [email protected] to schedule your MASA consultation.
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References
O’Brien, A. (2023a). Addiction as Trauma-Related Dissociation: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Addictive State. International University of Graduate Studies. (Dissertation). Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/courses/addiction-as-dissociation-model-course/
O’Brien, A. (2023b). Memory Reconsolidation in Psychedelics Therapy. In Path of the Wounded Healer: A Dissociative-Focused Phase Model for Normative and Pathological States of Consciousness: Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/courses/addiction-as-dissociation-model-course/
O’Brien, A. (2023c). Path of the Wounded Healer: A Dissociative-Focused Phase Model for Normative and Pathological States of Consciousness: Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
O’Brien, A. (2024a). Healer and Healing: The re-education of the healer and healing professions as an advocation. Re-educational and Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
O’Brien, A. (2024e). Path of the Wounded Healers for Thrivers: Perfectionism, Altruism, and Ambition Addictions; Re-education and training manual for Abusers, Activists, Batterers, Bullies, Enablers, Killers, Narcissists, Offenders, Parents, Perpetrators, and Warriors. Re-Education and Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
O’Brien, A. (2025). American Made Addiction Recovery: a healer’s journey through professional recovery. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
*This is for informational and educational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.
