Making Sense Blog

MAKING SENSE WITH SALLY MASLANSKY Ten Things Being a Patient in Psychotherapy Taught Me About Being a Psychotherapist (That I Never Learned in School or Formal Training). IPNB in Action SALLY MASLANSKY JUL 02, 2026   By Sally Maslansky, LMFT, author of A Brilliant Adaptation: How Dissociative Identity Disorder and the Power of the Therapeutic Bond Saved Me As a therapist, I often reflect on...

Since my book, “A Brilliant Adaptation: How Dissociative Identity Disorder & the Power of the Therapeutic Bond Saved Me” was published in January, I’ve heard the same thing often in private messages, after talks, on podcasts, in consults. Some therapists believe they can’t work with dissociative clients if those clients dissociate in session. This is, in my view, misguided, and in many...

Lessons From the Wheel A few weeks ago, after much discussion, my doctor prescribed Lipitor - preventively, not because of any cardiac event or diagnosed disease, just a proactive measure. I took it for three days. On the third day, I noticed a distinct depressive quality arriving in my thoughts - unmistakable, not subtle, not ambiguous. It took a minute to process…and then I became very aware -...

A little story about an evening that changed me as a mother in no small way. Sam was little – four. He was having his very first sleepover with his best friend Molly - it was such a milestone that Molly’s mom had made them matching pajamas. Paul and I had friends over for dinner. It should’ve been – could’ve been - a sweet, ordinary night. At bedtime, Molly got homesick and needed to go home....

Memory…Memorial Day…and Secure Attachment: Earned & Learned In his deeply illuminating and meaningful foreword to my book, A Brilliant Adaptation: How Dissociative Identity Disorder & the Power of the Therapeutic Bond Saved Me, my former therapist Dan Siegel writes about how our minds are shaped by our relationships, “This unique offering reveals how our minds are shaped by our...

IPNB: Rupture & Repair SALLY MASLANSKY MAY 03, 2026 IPNB in Action Rupture and Repair Some time ago I was talking to a group about rupture and repair between a parent and child, and a man in his seventies was in the audience. His forty-something son was also in attendance. After a break, the father came up to me and whispered, “I went to my son and told him how sorry I was for all the lost...

In my last blog, I wrote about Making Sense - the IPNB process of linking past, present, and potential future into a coherent narrative. I wrote about standing in front of the house where I was born, in Washington, D.C., where I had lived from birth to age seven. And I wrote about how, instead of being pulled back or destabilized, I was fully present. Clear…joyful. What made that possible? One...

MAKING SENSE WITH SALLY MASLANSKY Interpersonal Neurobiology in Action: Making Sense... SALLY MASLANSKY MAR 29, 2026   The process of Making Sense through the lens of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), the field of study developed by my former therapist, Dr. Dan Siegel, was pivotal early on in understanding my therapeutic work for my diagnosis of DID. Making Sense is the scientifically...

MAKING SENSE WITH SALLY MASLANSKY Free, Not Brave SALLY MASLANSKY MAR 12, 2026   Since the publication of my memoir, A Brilliant Adaptation: How Dissociative Identity Disorder & the Power of the Therapeutic Bond Saved Me, many people have warmly and kindly reached out to let me know the many different ways it resonates. Many express how brave I was, speaking carefully and gently as if...

MAKING SENSE WITH SALLY MASLANSKY The Power of How We Pay Attention….by, Sally Maslansky SALLY MASLANSKY FEB 24, 2026 The Power of How We Pay Attention….by, Sally Maslansky Neuroplasticity: The overall process with which brain connections are changed by experience, including the way we pay attention. — Daniel J. Siegel, Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology I think of neuroplasticity as the...