Many guests who have joined me on the podcast come from a background of writing about their experiences. This method of coping paved the way, in many cases, to their to where they are today, and continue to aid in their ongoing journey of healing. For some, writing is an exercise in anxiety and simply too difficult an experience to endure because of the painful memories the come rushing back while exploring their feelings in this manner.

Writing is usually a solo activity, which in itself can raise the anxiety level to exponential heights; something of course we'd rather not experience any longer. For many however, myself included, blogging offers a way to get those deep-rooted feelings and memories out of our heads and in some ways, make sense of them. At the very least, getting these such thoughts out of heads, can help them seem not so intimidating.

My guest on this episode of the podcast, Shirley J. Davis, has spent a large part of her life writing, which has allowed her to exponentially aid her own healing journey from abuse which started at a very young age, and leading to Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Shirley Davis shares is a freelance writer, public speaker and grant writer who loves life, and hopes to help others to do so as well. Shirley lives with a severe mental health condition known as dissociative identity disorder but has made huge strides forward through many years of hard work and the help of a wonderful therapist. Her philosophy  has become that life is not just an empty journey to simply survive and then die, rather it is a wonderful adventure to savor and enjoy. 

She  writes about healing from complex trauma and DID on her blog, Morgan6062.blog , CPTSDfoundationg.org , and many other outlets including NAMI of Illinois, and the American Psychological Association. 

During our chat on the podcast, Shirley shares some of her survivor story, which includes abuse that started from birth, and continuing through age 15.

• Her personal experience in life with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and how she interacts with her alters.
• What prompted her to seek treatment, and what that treatment looks like for her in an ongoing basis.
  • The process of giving her struggles a name, and how this helped her make sense of her life.
• Making sense of D.I.D., especially early on in her life when research and resources were not as readily available as they are today.
• Her daily life as a survivor and sharing how far she's come from the child who was abuse for so long.
• Making her way to the Fusion stage of D.I.D.
• Why writing has been such an important part of her life, including getting started with her own blog and CPTSD Foundation.

Be sure and follow Shirley J. Davis' work on Morgan6062.blog or simply google her name for the many outlets that share her work.  You can also follow her on Twitter @ShirleyDavis18.

Please consider sharing this podcast with someone who might benefit from hearing Shirley's story and encouragement for trauma survivors and those with living with D.I.D., you never know the difference it could make.  Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app.

-Matthew Pappas, CLC, MPNLP

All conversation and information exchanged during participation on the Beyond Your Past Podcast, on BeyondYourPast.com, and BeyondYourPastRadio.com is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing on

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