Presented by: Karen Hopenwasser, MD

While moments of attunement with individuals manifesting dissociated self-states are often confusing, dissociative attunement can be used as a valuable tool in therapeutic process. Attunement is a synchronized awareness of implicit knowing that is nonlinear and bidirectional. It is an embodied rhythmic encounter that can be understood, in part, through the science of entrainment, a natural process by which our biological and psychophysiological systems synchronize within an environment. It is not necessary to understand the complex science of rhythmic entrainment to notice and appreciate the felt sense of being in rhythm. However, some knowledge of the neuroscience and the physics of information flow can help us listen to intuition in an informed and critical way. It takes effort to move beyond concepts of transference and countertransference so embedded in our philosophy and training as therapists. Attunement with dissociated self-states is often mistaken as countertransference and mis-attunement. When that happens, we lose an opportunity to think differently, to understand more about the experience of dissociated self-states and ultimately to appreciate how humans are enmeshed within the deep ecology of complex systems.

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