Wounded Healers Policy Recommendations for the Implementation of Dissociation-Informed Care (DIC)
Executive Summary
The industrial standardization of mental healthcare, driven by quantitative research and legal-ethical compliance over science, has systematically undervalued the implicit memory system and the transdiagnostic nature of dissociation and addiction. This whitepaper advocates for the mandatory transition from Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) to Dissociation-Informed Care (DIC) across clinical, educational, and legal sectors. DIC operationalizes the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) and the Path of the Wounded Healer by recognizing and prioritizings the clients autonomy (Preference of Care) and somatic-based Memory Reconsolidation (MR) that respects the client’s need for privacy and internal pacing.
1. Systemic Failure: The Addiction to Ambiguity
Current diagnostic taxonomies, such as the DSM-5, are compromised by the lack of an operational definition for addiction, leaving it open to subjective interpretation.1 This ambiguity allows the system to perpetuate its own positive addictions—specifically the addiction to control (Ambition), professional legitimacy (Perfectionism), and institutional authority (Altruism)—at the expense of the client.1 The consequence is a professional hierarchy that is psychologically “addicted” and “diseased” and therefore incapable of making morally sound policy decisions.1
2. Policy Options for DIC Implementation
To correct this pathology, the following policy changes are recommended:
| DIC Principle | Policy Recommendation | Rationale |
| Preference of Care (Moral-Ethics) | Require that insurance and state regulatory bodies defer to the clinician’s assessment of moral necessity over legal-ethical compliance when prescribing trauma modalities. | Shifts authority from financially-motivated industry (legal/insurance) to client-centered, moral clinical expertise, affirming the Healer’s moral duty.1 |
| Pace of Healing | Eliminate time-restricted treatment models for all trauma- and addiction-related diagnoses; fund care based on demonstrated somatic regulation biomarkers, not hours completed. | Aligns treatment with the body’s innate healing rhythm (“Pace of Healing”) 1, recognizing the body/unconscious determines the rate of MR. |
| Privacy Factor | Implement protected, non-verbal MR modalities (e.g., Somatic Focusing, BSP) as primary care standards, ensuring the client is not coerced into narrative disclosure. | Protects clients from the trauma of external judgment and addresses the hidden trauma of Drug Use Memories (PTSD from own actions) which require non-verbal resolution.1 |
| Generalization Effect | Prioritize funding for MR-based therapies proven to elicit the Generalization Effect, which resolves themed memories across dissociative networks (e.g., EMDR, BSP, Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy). | Recognizes that healing one core trauma memory can resolve the entire conditioned addictive/dissociative web, yielding exponential recovery value. |
3. Professional Standards and the New Healer Paradigm
The successful implementation of DIC requires recognizing a new professional identity. The Healer must possess a level of moral maturity achieved through integrating and outgrowing the conventional system.1 DIC training mandates should focus on:
- Implicit Wisdom Training: Educating clinicians on DAA, somatic cues, and the body’s language to accurately interpret the unconscious.1
- Moral-Ethical Development: Training providers to understand the qualitative supremacy of moral responsibility over quantitative legal compliance.1
- The Personal Trainer Approach: Equipping providers with practical skills in classical conditioning to actively help clients condition regulation into their nervous systems, offering a tangible path out of the addictive/dissociative loop.1
By adopting DIC, the system transitions from pathologizing normal human responses to trauma to affirming the client’s innate ability to heal, thereby correcting the systemic addiction to power and control.1
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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.
