ABSTRACT
This extended case example offers a detailed vignette that illustrates in a story-like manner how to conduct an embodied experiential assessment and apply the felt sense polyvagal model (FSPM) in a case with a client who has split into multiple parts in response to trauma. A compassionate explanation of how severe trauma causes extreme dissociation is followed by a lively portrait of the treatment process, complete with the author's internal reactions and how she manages them in this complex case. Treatment steps include the privilege wheel, working with parts, the three D's, focusing, the three circles, trauma egg and body cards, and orienting to the FSPM. The case study shows how to use this menu of tools in a trauma and time-sensitive manner to meet and support the client at a pace appropriate to her clinical progress. It is not a straight path, and the author offers clear insight to therapists about how to stay calm and track the body in a case that at first seems wild and crazy, but in the end makes perfect sense.
