Reconciling Modern Educational Theories with the Psychological Unconscious

Dissociation-Informed Care: A Moral Imperative for Reclaiming the Client-Led Path to Trauma Resolution

Abstract

The prevailing trauma treatment paradigm, while acknowledging pervasive trauma, frequently remains limited by cognitive-centric models and an industrial healthcare system reliant on measurable, quantitative metrics. This paper introduces and expands upon Dissociation-Informed Care (DIC), a framework derived from the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) and the Path of the Wounded Healer, which postulates that learning is Memory Reconsolidation (MR) and that the physical body is the psychological unconscious.¹ DIC shifts the focus from external compliance and ethical protocols to internal wisdom and moral development, prioritizing the inherent healing capacity of the client. Core DIC options explored include the Personal Trainer Approach (conditioning calm and de-conditioning addiction), the Preference of Care (moral guidance over ethical rule), the Privacy Factor (non-verbal memory resolution), and the Generalization Effect of MR. The analysis concludes that the absence of operational definitions for dissociation and addiction in current systems ¹ creates a systemic pathology, resulting in industry-led rather than client-led care. DIC offers practical and philosophical solutions to circumvent this systemic implicit bias and empower truly autonomous healing.

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Introduction: The Evolution Beyond Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) marked a necessary paradigm shift, acknowledging the high prevalence of trauma and integrating basic safety principles into institutional settings.¹ However, the efficacy of TIC is often limited by its focus on external systems and symptom management. Dissociation-Informed Care (DIC) represents the critical evolution required to address the pervasive, transdiagnostic nature of unresolved trauma, which the field of psychology has identified as the underlying mechanism of addiction.¹

The Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) proposes that addiction is the pathological bonding to a dissociative state, where unconscious processes dominate conscious awareness to ensure survival.¹ This framework aligns with Maia Szalavitz’s contention that addiction is fundamentally a learning disorder (Szalavitz, 2016). Since addiction is a conditioned response perpetuated by the repetition of the trauma-dissociation cycle ¹, the path to recovery must involve a targeted psycho-pedagogical approach—a DIC model—that directly engages the implicit memory system within the body, the seat of the psychological unconscious.¹

Core Features of Dissociation-Informed Care (DIC)

DIC utilizes key concepts to restore client autonomy and align treatment with the body’s innate drive to heal.

1. The Pace of Healing and the Body as the Unconscious

The principle of the Pace of Healing posits that psychological healing and physical healing are inherently interconnected and proceed at the same rate, determined solely by the client’s somatic system.¹ This aligns with the fundamental hypothesis that the physical body is the psychological unconscious.¹ Since trauma is stored in the implicit, somatic memory system (O’Brien, 2023a), the process of Memory Reconsolidation (MR) is physical. Any therapeutic modality that respects the client’s internal rhythm—avoiding the industrial pressure to achieve quick, quantifiable metrics—is inherently dissociation-informed.¹ Attempts by external systems (insurance, mandated treatment) to accelerate this pace constitute a form of professional overreach that violates the body’s wisdom.¹

2. The Personal Trainer Approach and Principles of Conditioning

If addiction is a learning disorder, recovery requires sophisticated re-conditioning. The Personal Trainer Approach integrates the Principles of Conditioning (classical and operant) into somatic therapy.¹ Addiction is initially conditioned through the pleasurable reward derived from relief (operant conditioning on the pain/relief cycle).¹ The DIC solution is to:

• De-condition Operant Habits: Break the conditioned reliance on addictive behaviors by systematically reducing the reward association through the conscious practice of grounding and regulation skills.¹
• Classically Condition Calm: Systematically introduce and reinforce neutral and calm states into the bodily experience. By intentionally cultivating Dual Attention Awareness (DAA)—the mechanism of MR and adaptive dissociation—the client actively conditions their nervous system to associate the Now with safety and regulation, not survival stress.¹ This empowers the body to choose homeostasis over reenactment.

3. The Client-Led Approach and Preference of Care (Moral-Ethics)

True healing requires the clinician to follow the client’s unconscious intuition and common sense.¹ The Client-Led Approach dictates that the Preference of Care must truly be client-led, overriding industry-led mandates driven by external ethical and legal bias.¹

The Path of the Wounded Healer emphasizes that Moral-Ethics supersedes Legal-Ethics. Ethics are quantitative rules for compliance, whereas Morals are qualitative principles reflecting inner development and wisdom.¹ When legal or insurance-based policies conflict with the clinical need for deep, trauma-informed care (e.g., mandating non-trauma-focused treatment), the morally developed Healer must prioritize the client’s well-being and capacity for self-determination.¹ The client’s body, as the unconscious, intuitively knows the fastest path to healing; true care requires deference to that knowledge.

4. The Privacy Factor and Healing Unacknowledged Trauma

A critical element of DIC addresses the hidden trauma that fuels addiction: positive addictions (perfectionism, ambition, altruism) and the trauma associated with self-abuse or actions committed while dissociated.¹ People often seek treatment for things done to them but rarely for things they have done while in an addictive or dissociative state.¹ These unaddressed Drug Use Memories are encapsulated and function as a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD-D), fueling reenactments and pathological dissociation.¹

The Privacy Factor allows trauma resolution to occur without requiring verbal disclosure of the traumatic content (e.g., the specific addiction, crime, or action).¹ Because somatic modalities like Brainspotting (BSP) and EMDR utilize DAA to target the memory’s emotional charge and structure, the memory can be updated through MR without requiring the cognitive narrative.¹ This is essential for clients navigating legal concerns, profound shame, or the intense trauma associated with self-abuse.

5. The Generalization Effect of Memory Reconsolidation

The efficacy of healing relies on the Generalization Effect of MR. Since addiction creates conditioned Generalization Effects that link a core addictive experience to a web of associated behaviors, feelings, and somatic states (O’Brien, 2023a), healing the core trauma memory via MR resolves the entire network of linked, themed, or sequenced memories.¹ This exponential effect of somatic work distinguishes it from symptom-by-symptom cognitive treatments, providing rapid, deep, and broad-spectrum healing.

Conclusion: DIC as the Future of Psycho-Pedagogy

The current state of education and mental health is characterized by a systemic failure to define core psychological terms, resulting in the normalization of dissociation and addiction.¹ Educational models are incomplete because they do not account for the implicit, somatic learning mechanisms dictated by trauma.¹ DIC provides the psycho-pedagogical corrective, asserting that the deepest learning occurs when the conscious mind surrenders to the unconscious body’s wisdom.¹ By implementing DIC principles, clinicians and educators can transition away from industrialized, fear-based ethical compliance and towards a morally-driven, relational approach that affirms the client’s innate capacity for self-healing and sovereignty.

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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.