Understanding Dissociative Identity 
Disorder Impact On Marginalized 
Communities 

OLGA TRUJILLO: OK, so today, we're going to talk about 
understanding dissociative identity disorder and its impact on 
marginalized communities. And I'm Olga Trujillo, I'm the director 
of education and social change at Latinos United for Peace and 
Equity, or we call LUPE. And we are part of Caminar Latino, which 
is a direct service program in the Atlanta Georgia area. Latinos 
United for Peace and Equity is a national training and technical 
assistance provider and connected to the local program in 
Atlanta. 

So I'm going to talk to you about dissociative identity disorder 
because I was diagnosed with it when I was 31 years old. So I'm 
going to talk to you about it from a lived experience of it and 
having gone through a process of healing. So let's get started. So 
I have a few goals for this training. One, to explore what DID is, 
so what is it and what causes it. And then also to examine the 
impact on people's lives, and in particular, on people's lives in 
marginalized communities. And then to strategize with you 
around what you can do to help. 

So DID is a severe psychiatric condition that is strongly correlated 
with the history of chronic and unremitting childhood abuse, 


characterized by identity alteration or confusion. All right, so 
basically, what we're talking about is when a child experiences 
ongoing trauma and can't escape it, one of the ways of coping is 
by creating a place in their mind where they can escape it. So 
when I was growing up and I was being physically and sexually 
abused in my home, I couldn't leave that home. So I made use of 
my creative energies, my ability to create imaginary friends, and 
created parts. 

It's a disorder that forms as a result of ongoing trauma in 
childhood. It forms if trauma begins before the age of eight or 
nine years of age. It provides an escape cognitively when there is 
none physically. And a person with DID feels as if they have 
within them two or more entities, each with its own way of 
thinking and remembering about themselves and their lives. 

So again, so if I kind of break this down for you, I think you 
might be able to see the connection to marginalized communities. 
So we're talking about trauma that begins in childhood, and most 
of the time what we're talking about with DID is child physical or 
sexual abuse or serious neglect. But that's because that's what's 
been presented to people, but we experience all sorts of trauma 
in our lives. And as a Latina growing up in Washington DC in the 
'60s, it wasn't just the trauma that was in my home but it was 
also the trauma of being different, of being treated different, of 


being seen as someone that was less than, of watching my 
parents treated as less than. 

All that comes together in the formation of DID and in the escape 
and the parts that I developed. So it's not something that you 
can kind of tease out, the racism and the oppression that we feel. 
But we treat it as if it is, and that presents a problem for people 
of color, for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color that end 
up with a disorder that's never identified and helped. 

The DSM-5 states that DID involves a, quote unquote, disruption 
of identity that's characterized by two or more distinct 
personalities. So the thing is in the DSM-5, there are three basic 
things that lay out what constitutes DID. So one of them is this, 
that you would have two or more distinct personality states. But I 
want to let you know that that's really rare for someone to just 
have to. I'll tell you that before I stopped counting, or at the 
point at which I stopped counting, I had 120. So the two is just to 
show you that there is a minimum of two, but it's not really 
common for someone to only have two. 

The disruption in identity involves a marked discontinuity in sense 
of self, sense of agency that's accompanied by related alterations 
in affect, behavior, consciousness, memory, perception, 
cognition, or sensory motor functioning. So basically, those are 
all the things that describe what makes up a person's personality, 
and makes who they are. So when I created the parts inside me 


to keep the abuse that I was experiencing, the trauma that I was 
experiencing, away from me, I created parts of me which is a 
little bit unusual. 

Most people create all kinds of parts that are different genders, 
that might be animals, inanimate objects. I wasn't that creative. 
For me, what I did was I had parts of me at different ages. So 
that first part that I created was when I was three years old 
because I was sexually abused by my father when I was three 
years old. That was my first memory and that part of me, I 
developed so that I wouldn't know that that happened to me. And 
that's a really, really creative coping mechanism, but it also can 
make it really difficult to function in the world. So that three-
year-old part of me had, felt very different from me but still part 
of me, if that makes sense. And I'll kind of explain this as we go 
along. 

The DSM-5 also points out that for it to be DID, it involves 
recurrent gaps in recall of everyday events, important and 
personal information, and/or traumatic events that are 
inconsistent with ordinary forgetting. So I'll show you again how 
in my experience. So when I was 31 years old, I started having 
panic attacks and I went to see a therapist about it and then I 
was referred to a psychiatrist. And I worked with this psychiatrist 
for a number of years. 


And one of the ways in which he suspected that I had DID was 
that I could remember everything or lots and lots of things that 
happened outside of our home. So I could remember things in 
school, I remember playing with friends, playing sports, I 
remember a lot of all of that. But I didn't remember hardly 
anything that happened in my home. So those are recurrent gaps 
of everyday events, personal information, that are inconsistent 
with ordinary forgetting. Meaning, that most people will not 
remember just part of their experiences at certain ages, though, 
their memories will fade over time, but across the board, they'll 
fade. And that wasn't the case for me. I had blocked out the 
things that were happening in our home because those were the 
things that were so traumatic that I couldn't escape. So that I 
created parts in my head so that I wouldn't know that those 
things were happening. 

OK, so why do I think you need to know about DID? The studies 
show that in the US, somewhere between 1% and 3% of the 
population have DID. So there's as many as, according to studies 
which I think are way low in numbers, but they believe there as 
many as nine million people that could have DID. Without help, 
DID can create chaos, chaos and risk for the person that has it. 
And people who have it can experience additional challenges 
when in crisis. And usually, a crisis can happen when there's a 
new trauma or loss. And right now, with the pandemic, with the 
potential of people getting sick with COVID-19, that's the kind of 


loss, that's the kind of trauma that could really kick up chaos and 
risk for people who have DID. That's the kind of thing that can 
make it really hard for people with DID to cope. 

The other reason that I want you to know about it is because in 
the past 20, 30 years, there has been effort to undermine the 
credibility of those who have identified DID as a disorder, as 
something that people can do that that helps them cope, but then 
also that makes it hard for them to function. And there has been 
an effort to undermine the disorder itself. So there have been 
people that have been attacking the people who work with 
survivors who have DID, and then there are people who are 
attacking the diagnosis as being made up or planted in people. 
And this is a Harvard Review of Psychiatry article on dissociative 
identity disorder. It's really recent. It's, I think, it's 2018 or 2019, 
that goes through and corrects the fiction and the myth about 
dissociative identity disorder. And some of the people who have 
written this article are some of the best people in the world on 
this issue. 

So it really does exist. So how do I know? I know because when I 
was the general counsel of the Office of Justice Programs at the 
US Department of Justice, I started to have panic attacks and 
went to go see a therapist about the panic attacks. And then was 
referred to a psychiatrist. And I was diagnosed with dissociative 
identity disorder. 


And I was really, honestly shocked that I could have such a 
disorder because I thought that I had a really happy childhood, 
but I couldn't remember most of it. And come to find out that 
that's really unusual. So I know it exists, I have a lived 
experience of having it, of knowing what it's like to try to move 
through the world with it, and then to go through a healing 
process. And now, really, just living with it in a seamless way. So 
I was diagnosed in 1993, and I was diagnosed, I was really lucky 
to be in the DC area and to be referred to a psychiatrist who is 
probably now for sure one of the best in the country, if not in the 
world. And it just happened to be that I was referred to him. 

So I want to talk a little bit about the impact on marginalized 
community. So people from marginalized communities are likely 
to have experienced trauma in childhood. And if you think about 
it because of racism and oppression, because of the ways in 
which we are marginalized, the whole piece of the oppression is 
basically to look at us and look at our differences and to establish 
those differences as meaning that we are less than. And so 
families that experience this kind of oppression have a level of 
trauma and stress that can really wear the people in those 
families out. It takes its toll on people. 

And then if you add that there is violence in a lot of our homes, 
that level of trauma is also happening, and it's not always the 
violence in our homes that might cause people to create parts of 


themselves, to split off, it's also the trauma that we might be 
feeling and experiencing, the trauma that we might be witnessing 
in our communities and in our neighborhoods. And all that, as a 
result of that level of oppression and racism that our society 
imposes on people. So marginalized communities are likely to 
have adapted in order to survive. So meaning that dissociative 
identity disorder and a lot of trauma disorders are adaptive 
coping mechanisms. 

So you're in a situation that you can't get out of. So racism is like 
that in the US. So you can't change the color of your skin, and 
you're treated differently because of it. You're treated like you're 
less than because of it. So people aren't able to escape it and so 
they adapt in order to survive it. And that is trauma that people 
are experiencing in our society and have been experiencing in our 
society. 

I'm not saying that oppression on its own will create enough 
trauma for people to split off and create DID, but you can see 
how in marginalized communities where there is trauma in 
childhood, that there is like trauma upon trauma. And so it is 
likely to be happening in marginalized communities. But when 
you look at the field, when you look at who gets care, when you 
look at-- there's a conference that I go to every year for people 
who have dissociative identity disorder. That conference is almost 
entirely white. The field of dealing with dissociative identity 


disorder is very white. But I think the impact is not just on white 
people. I think it is on marginalized communities, very heavily. 
And the problem is, is they're not likely to have had the luxury to 
have discovered the impact, to discover that what they have is 
this dissociative disorder, this very creative, adaptive coping 
mechanism. So they move through the world with the additional 
challenge of not knowing that the way that their brain is setup 
now is creating more challenges for them than it has to be. 

And that's why I mean I was in a position to have the luxury to 
discover the impact. And then and in large part, because I found 
myself trying to get as far away from what I grew up with, and 
what I thought was the problem about my upbringing was that 
we were poor. And so I tried to get as far away from that as 
possible by going to law school, by working at a big law firm, and 
making quite a bit money, and then going to the Department of 
Justice. So I had a certain level of privilege and resources at the 
time that I started having panic attacks. And it's only once I was 
in my 30s that where I was, I had the resources and the privilege 
to deal with this issue that I was able to discover that I had it. So 
that's what I mean about the luxury of discovering its impact. 

So this is the psychiatrist that I was really lucky to be able to 
work with. His name is Dr. Richard Chefetz. I started working 
with him in 1993 and we work together off and on from 1993 
until, off and on until that was like in early 2000s, and then a 


little bit again in 2011-12 era. And then 2015, he wrote this book 
that is considered the bible on how do you treat DID. And part of 
the reason that it's the bible for that is because what Rich did 
when he worked with people is he made sure that in working with 
someone that he was building connections for them, so that they 
could leave therapy. 

A lot of people with DID never leave therapy. They work with 
clinicians their whole life. And Rich wanted to make sure that 
people had the support and the connections outside of therapy to 
be able to leave therapy and have a full life. So there is a lot that 
he did in this that was really significant. 

So I wrote a book that came out. It's called The Sum of My Parts. 
It came out in 2011. And I wrote about-- half the book was on 
how DID formed in me, so what happened to me that DID 
formed. And in the process of writing that, I also show you the 
things that people did that helped me. And then the second half 
of the book is about the healing process. So it's kind of my side of 
working with Rich and how that felt from an inside-out 
perspective. 

The thing that's really tricky about DID is that it's a very-- the 
people who are able to get diagnosed, the people who are treated 
are, for the most part, white. But we know that it's affecting 
communities of color. We're just not seeing them. And part of the 
reason is because our resources aren't developed for them. And 


so they're not finding themselves in the materials. So my book is 
a good example. My book was published in the US in English. But 
there are people in the US that don't speak English, that don't 
read well in English, that might prefer reading it in Spanish. 

But my publisher wouldn't publish it in Spanish in the US. So I 
took the book and I got my rights back too and paid for the book 
to be translated and published in Spanish. And the reason I did 
that is because I'm a Latina, and this happened to me, and I want 
other Latinas and Latinos out there to be able to find themselves 
in my experience. And if they can't read about what it feels like 
from someone who has it to have DID, they might never know 
that they have it. They might just struggle and feel like they're 
not smart enough or they don't work hard enough or all these 
things that were told about ourselves because we're different, 
they may never figure that out. 

And knowing that I have DID has changed my life. Going through 
a process of healing has changed my life. Like I can be proactive. 
I can be thoughtful. I know how to move through the world as if I 
am one. And a lot of that came from healing from DID. For 
whatever that might look like for people, knowing that this might 
be something that you're struggling with and going through some 
sort of healing process, can really help. 

The other problem about DID for people of color, for Black, 
Indigenous, and other people color is that the healing world is 


mainstream and white. And so, for example, I had some of the 
best care that someone can pay for in the US, really top-shelf 
amazing care. But I left therapy still struggling with speaking 
Spanish because all my abuse happened in Spanish and that 
wasn't something we dealt with in therapy, because my therapy 
was very mainstream, very white. I left therapy still struggling 
with being able to eat garlic because all the foods that we grew 
up eating started with-- every dinner started with olive oil, 
onions, and garlic. And that was the smell. The smell of garlic 
when I was abused. And so it was a trauma response. Whenever 
I would eat garlic, I would be triggered and I would have a 
reaction to I thought was the garlic, but instead it was the smell 
and taste of garlic that was a trigger and creating trauma for me. 

So that's not stuff that was dealt with in my therapy because my 
therapy is very mainstream and white. So for me, the impact of 
this on marginalized communities is that we have a very 
mainstream white approach to an issue that affects everyone. 
And I think disproportionately affects people of color. And we 
don't have a way of helping people to heal both culturally in this 
mental health way. And we don't have a way of helping people 
understand that they have this. 

So I fear that people who have DID that are Black, Indigenous, 
and other people of color, I fear that what's happening is that 
they're being arrested more because of behavior issues that 


might be coming up because of the DID. They might be homeless 
more, that they are really struggling. And so there is a lot you 
can do. And what I think is helpful is, one, to learn more about 
DID. There's lots of resources out there. 

You can find some on my website, which I have a personal 
website where I write about DID, which is olgatrujillo.com. You 
can find it, and I have a resource list at the end of this 
PowerPoint. But the McLean Hospital as part of Harvard Medical 
School, they're developing a website about DID and they treat 
people with DID. And Infinite Mind is another website that has 
information about DID. And there's lots of, there's materials out 
there that are really helpful. There are YouTube tours that have 
DID that do all kinds of videos about what it's like to live with. 

And then share what you know with colleagues and with friends 
and family and others so that people understand that it is real, 
that it does happen to people, that the reasons that it happens to 
people is because they experience unremitting trauma over a 
long period of time as a child, and this was their adaptive coping 
mechanism. And then help people with DID to be proactive, to 
kind of think through and problem solve and prioritize. 

So in the sharing with others, remember that this is an adaptive 
response to violence and trauma, and then to think about this, 
people who have DID, this is a superpower, this is an incredible 
coping mechanism that someone creatively put in place to be able 


to deal with the abuse and trauma that they were experiencing 
while still moving through the world. And then also, I think, our 
best approach with marginalized communities is a healing 
centered point. I think, actually, our best approach with anyone is 
a healing centered approach where you can-- where your cultural 
identity and your strengths are centered, and then the trauma is 
addressed. 

Instead of looking at people as a product of the worst things that 
have happened to them, you're looking and treating people from 
the perspective of who they are, how they identify, what their 
strengths are, and these things happen to them, and there's 
trauma in their experience. If you do it that way, you'll help 
people be more resilient, you'll help people heal in a more whole 
way. And so things-- and the problem with the field of psychology 
is that it is very mainstream and there are certain credentials that 
you have to have to do it. 

And then what it does is, I mean, I benefited from that and I 
think that's awesome. But what it does is it then devalues cultural 
healing practices which may be really what that person needs. 
Like not everyone needs to go through the healing process I went 
through, but when we say this is the way to heal, we devalue and 
discredit these other ways of healing like through acupuncture, 
through sweat lodges, through talking circles. There's all sorts of 


cultural ways of healing that are also really, really powerful for 
people. 

So help people with DID be proactive. Think through, prioritize 
what they need to do, talk through something that they're trying 
to do or accomplish, break it down into small steps, help them 
see themselves be able to do the different aspects of the steps. 
They might not be able to take in all the steps all at once, but if 
you do it a little bit at a time, you can do a couple steps and then 
come back and talk about it again, and then a couple more steps. 
It's a very, very powerful experience to realize that you can be 
proactive. 

Also, help people plan for a crisis and plan for re-traumatization. 
So anticipate what might become a problem for them. So for 
example, if you're working with a sexual assault survivor, it might 
be whether they participate in an investigation and prosecution of 
the case. Or whether they go back to school, or whether they 
leave their parents home, whether they might run into the person 
that caused the violence, and caused the trauma. So help them 
think through what they would do in those situations. Break it 
down, really small steps, and work with them on thinking it 
through because that's huge. Part of the trauma of being abused 
growing up is that you feel powerless. And even though you're an 
adult, you still feel powerless. So helping someone break through 
that is a huge thing. 


And what kinds of things could happen that could create a crisis 
for someone? So right now, really, getting COVID-19 could create 
a crisis for people being re-victimized, could create a crisis being 
trapped somewhere, could create a crisis for people. So think 
through things like that. Listen to what people say they're afraid 
of having happen, and take that really seriously. Because those 
things that they're afraid of or that they're worrying about, 
they're not saying this is a crisis and I'm afraid I'm going to be 
re-traumatized, but in all likelihood, that's what's going on. 

So take those things seriously. Walk them through that. Who do 
they want involved to help them? So help them think through 
how they might get help if something happens. Who should be 
called? And who shouldn't be called? So the big thing here is 
institutional responses are not usually very friendly to 
marginalized communities. So they're not always going to want to 
go there. I'm not going to want to call 9-1-1 if something 
happens to me out here in Wisconsin, one, because I live in the 
middle of nowhere Wisconsin, where they're not going to really 
know about DID. And so then some of the ways in which I might 
react if I'm re-traumatized or in a crisis may look problematic to 
the people around me who don't know about it. So think through 
with them how they want to handle it. 

The other thing is I've created a card that says I have DID, what 
it is, and then I have the name of my partner and her phone 


number, and the name of my psychiatrist and his phone number 
if someone needs to call someone because I'm injured or in crisis 
and unable to lay that out for them. That's been really helpful for 
other people around the country. And actually, there's a health 
care guide that I developed that's also here on the Resource 
Center's website that you can look for, and there's a sample card 
along with that. 

So when you're doing safety planning with someone who's 
experienced a lot of trauma and may have DID, repeat things as 
often as needed. Keep it simple. Talk about dissociation as part of 
the safety planning. Dissociation is when someone kind of goes 
away in their head, separates a little bit from their body. They 
might seem really withdrawn, they might seem like they're really 
gone, or they might just seem a little distant. But that can impact 
how quickly you process things. So talk about whether they 
notice when they dissociate, what happens when they dissociate, 
what kinds of things can they do to ground themselves. Learning 
how to ground yourself is a great thing for you to do and then for 
teaching someone who has DID to do for themselves. 

And on the Resource Center website, there is a little infographics 
that kind of walks through what you can do to ground yourself. 
You can print that out, give that to survivors as a reminder, keep 
it on your desk as a reminder for yourself. Be sure if you've never 
done this before to do it with other advocates or other folks that 


you're working with to make sure you're doing it right and not too 
fast, not too slow. Just get a sense of it, get comfortable with it. 

Talk about with someone who has DID, if they know they have 
DID. It's really helpful at times to talk about how we all need to 
work together. And what I'm saying is how we all need to work 
together, meaning, inside. That person's parts with them, how 
they might need to all work together. Don't talk to specific parts 
unless they're talking to you. Don't call out any parts. But just 
say, is it possible for you all to work together, and have a 
conversation with that person about how they might be able to do 
that. 

Be willing to do all this over and over and over again. There is 
this thing called neuroplasticity. And what it is, it's your brain's 
way of rewiring itself. And so if you do something the same way 
over and over and over again, eventually, that's the way you'll do 
it. If you're working with someone that has DID, and you're 
working with them on a regular basis, one of the best things you 
can do is create a team. And then over time, you're going to work 
better together, faster, and longer, because that'll be the way 
they do it. The things that they do with you is through that same 
routine. 

If you have a shelter, accessing shelters can be really hard for 
people with DID. So some of the most challenging things is 
sharing a room with someone you don't know, not being able to 


lock the door. People with DID oftentimes can't sleep at night 
when they've been re-traumatized or in a crisis. People will 
withdraw and that usually means that they are overwhelmed, 
traumatized, not feeling trusting. So pay attention to that and 
reach out. And reach out kindly and gently to help them feel like 
you're there for them, and try to be very transparent so that you 
can build trust with them. 

Recognize that there is a lot going on in someone's head when 
they have DID. Remember, I had, when I stopped counting, I had 
about 120 parts. And the way that felt to me wasn't so much 
voices but there were a lot, a lot of thoughts going on in my head 
all the time. And I learned to stop paying attention to them. And 
then in the healing process, I started paying attention again. That 
constant energy, that constant thoughts, or for a lot of people, 
it's constant voices, it's exhausting. One, it makes it really hard 
to focus. So remember that when you're working with someone 
with DID, if they might respond slowly, they might look like 
they're having trouble processing information, so give them 
things in different modes of learning. So if you can have drawings 
of things, if you can walk people through things, and give them 
things in writing. 

But don't just rely on things in writing. It'll be hard for people to 
comprehend that all the time. It also feels a lot of times like you 
have white noise going on in your head. So think about like how 


hard it might be for you to work when there is a lot going on 
around you to be able to concentrate. And that's, in a nutshell, a 
little bit what it's like when you have DID. Again, grounding 
techniques are really important, really helpful for people so you 
can help people do these things and then give them the little 
graphic and let them practice doing it for themselves. 

The way that I've learned to move through the world as though I 
am one is the guidance that I'm going to give you for helping 
other people do it. So one, plan ahead. Think through what this 
person might need to do in order to get through your program or 
what it is that you're working with them on. Make things as 
predictable as possible. So prepare, let them know what to 
expect, and break it down in small chunks. And be like really, 
really specific about what they might expect. Don't do it in wide 
swaths because people like me are super, super observant. We're 
hyper vigilant, so we're constantly taking in information. So 
letting us know which door of a courtroom or which door of a 
courthouse to walk into, which elevator to take, how many people 
we might expect to be in that lobby, how many people, like 
elevator is going to be crowded, what floor am I going to get off 
on, where is the room that I need to go to, all those pieces are 
really important. The more that I know what to expect, the less 
anxious I am. The less anxious I am, the less likely I am to panic 
and not do what I'm working towards doing. 


The other thing is when you're working with someone, try to limit 
stimulation as much as you can. So that thing that we do about 
hyper vigilance, we're constantly, constantly taking in our 
surroundings and assessing for safety. And any additional 
stimulation on top of that makes it harder for us to do that. It's 
exhausting, it slows down our processing. So if you're working 
with someone who's experienced trauma, and in particular if 
you're working with someone who has DID, try to meet in a quiet 
place, in an open area that's not too closed off, but with privacy. 
And I hope that that's possible. If not, try to then go to a quiet 
place outside. And a lot of things are happening right now via 
Zoom, and that might actually be good in terms of limiting 
stimulation. 

The other thing that I'll just mention, though, is a lot of people 
with DID don't feel comfortable in front of cameras. So might not 
want to do a video conference with you, might struggle with that. 
Because a lot of abuse that happens also involves filming and 
taking pictures of people. So just be alert to that. You can try to 
do things on the phone. Or what I do with other people that have 
DID is I'll still do a Zoom session where I don't see them, but 
they see me. Because it's usually the filming of them that's an 
issue, and if they have control over not being filmed, meaning not 
being on camera, then they're usually a little more comfortable 
with it. 


Again, using things and different modes of communication is 
really important so that they can retain the information that 
you're presenting them with, that you're giving them. And then 
talk about trauma-related issues and how you'll handle them 
when they come up. So what happens when they get triggered? 
Do they know? Do they know what triggers them? Do they know-
- if they don't know things about getting triggered, do they know 
what's hard for them? And then how is that hard for them? Do 
they have panic attacks? Do they have times when they can't 
leave their house or their car or whatever way that they're 
coming in? Talk through all of that. And this all takes time so try 
to plan for that time. 

So I want to talk a little bit about legal proceedings because a lot 
of our work with crime victims involves legal proceedings. So 
once again, marginalized communities don't tend to do well in 
legal proceedings. Meaning, the way that our systems are set up 
are inherently racist. And so the process of participating in these 
proceedings become even more stressful. We are constantly 
reminded of how we are different. So for example, I'm at the 
intersection of being a Latina, having a really significant mental 
health disorder, DID, being queer, being gender nonconforming. I 
live at those intersections. So being in a system response will be 
more stressful for me because I will be feeling what I have felt 
my whole life, which is being judged for being different. Those are 


things that are really important to keep in mind. And the fact that 
someone also has DID will make things hard for them. 

So legal proceedings are inherently triggering. Expect triggers, 
plan for triggers. Explore if there is a way that some of these can 
happen where they're not in the same place as the person that 
caused them harm. Explore if it's possible for them to do video 
testimony. And again, be mindful that some people will not be 
able to be videoed. 

Prepare early for legal proceedings. I've had lots and lots of 
victim advocates talk to me about how they were forced to go 
pick up a sexual assault survivor because she was having a panic 
attack and couldn't get to court. And how painful it was for them 
to try to make them go to court. Prepare ahead of time, practice, 
meet them at the court a few times ahead of time. And if it's not 
a court proceeding, let's say it's a health care facility, health care 
is still really hard for people with DID, it can be really triggering. 
So prepare ahead of time, meet them there, walk through what 
the procedure or the visit will be like. Again, making it as 
predictable as possible. 

And there is a number of resource centers or resources on the 
Resource Center website that I think you're going to be really 
helpful. There are ones that I was involved in writing, and I'm 
always writing about DID even when I'm not saying I'm writing 
about DID. So the tips there in these tip sheets for victim 


advocates, for lawyers, for courts, and the tip sheet on health 
care, those are all going to work for people with DID. Because I 
have figured out how to move through the world with DID. And 
that's what I write about whether I say I write about it or not. 

So again, plan for triggers. If people have supportive family, their 
friends in their life, encourage them to include them in whatever 
it is that you're working with them on. Consider whether support 
animal is possible for what you're working with the person with 
DID on. It's a really grounding experience to have a support 
animal. I know that a lot of courtrooms have them, a lot of 
domestic violence programs have them, sexual assault programs. 
And now, even some therapists have them. They're really 
grounding. And again, I keep saying this, but it's because it's 
really important, to learn grounding techniques and teach people 
how to use them for themselves when they're having a tough 
time. 

All right, so learn more about DID and other trauma-related 
conditions. Listen, believe when people tell you that they have 
DID. And try to find people in your area that work with trauma 
and association in case they need a referral. So these are some of 
the resources where you can find more information on DID. At 
my website, you can reach me and I have a ton of information on 
DID. This is my passion. I feel really lucky to have been able to 
find the care that I got, be able to afford it, and to be able to 


figure out how to move through the world as one. So I want to 
help you help other people do the same. 

And remember, if you think about DID as a superpower, you're 
going to deal with people in a really great way because it really is 
a superpower. I mean, it is amazing what people like me have 
been able to do to survive the things that we've been subjected 
to. And in particular, people from marginalized communities. So 
remember it's a superpower. You are centering their cultural 
identity. You are centering their strengths and you're applying 
trauma-informed practices to it. If you do all that, you're going to 
do awesome with people who have DID. 

OK, here's my contact information. I have both my email at 
Caminar Latino and my personal email at olgatrujillo.com. And 
that's because I really want you, if you have questions about 
DID, to get in touch with me. It's a really important issue to me 
and I think if you need something, I'm going to try to get you in 
touch with somebody who has it or I'm going to get it for you. 
Thanks very much.