Making Sense Blog
The Power of How We Pay Attention….by, Sally Maslansky
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...
The Blind Spot – Time to Open Our Eyes
SALLY MASLANSKY FEB 14, 2026 Window of Tolerance: A span of tolerable levels of arousal in which internal or external stimuli can be processed in a flexible and adaptive manner. Outside of the window for this particular state, the individual moves toward chaos or toward rigidity of response. Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology: An Integrative Handbook of the Mind, By Daniel J....
The Opposite of Brilliant: Epstein and the Disconnect Around Child Sexual Abuse
The Disconnect I’d like to call this an invitation, but considering the topic, it feels more like a challenge. The challenge isn’t to study the headlines more closely. It’s to study ourselves. To notice where we flinch. Where we twist language. Where we rename violence. Where we shift the focus. Where we protect ourselves from what is right in front of us. The challenge to come to know even what...
The Wheel of Awareness – My IPNB Informed Minfulness Practice
The Wheel of Awareness – My Practice “The Wheel of Awareness: A visual metaphor of the mind that is also a time-in practice to promote neural integration. The outer rim of the wheel represents that which is the object of attention… The hub represents the experience of being aware.” — Daniel J. Siegel, MD, Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology Before I ever learned the Wheel of Awareness,...
Reflections on a Snowy Night…
The Lifesaving Power of an Early, Accurate Diagnosis
The Lifesaving Power of an Early, Accurate Diagnosis SALLY MASLANSKY JAN 18, 2026 The Lifesaving Power of an Early, Accurate Diagnosis In the world of trauma treatment, timing matters. For people living with Dissociative Identity Disorder, the research is stark: it typically takes six to twelve and a half years to receive an accurate diagnosis. Six to twelve and a half years of living without a...
How Relationships Shape a Mind From the Inside Out
How Relationships Shape a Mind From the Inside Out When I first began to understand my internal world, what I was living with was a sense of being disconnected…misaligned inside. Not broken -more bewildered. There were missing pieces of information, gaps in memory, and emotions without context. Life appeared continuous on the outside, yet internally there were barriers that kept experience,...
A Quiet Masterclass in Healing When I first entered therapy with Dr. Dan Siegel, Interpersonal Neurobiology was still in its earliest stages of development. I had no idea then that something new and integrative was being shaped in real time. What I did know – deeply, unmistakably – was how it felt to be in therapy with him. There was a quality of safety that didn’t need explanation. A steadiness. A kind of presence that allowed me to sense my own mind and body coming online in new ways. Long before I understood concepts like integration, implicit memory, or dissociation, I could feel hope beginning to take root. Not as an idea – but as an experience. My experience. Looking back now, I see that what Dr. Siegel offered was more than therapy. It was a living demonstration of what healing safe relationships make possible. Knowledge held with humility. Curiosity without agenda. Attunement that invited connection. Mary-Anne Kate’s description of my story as a “masterclass” resonates deeply because that is exactly how it felt to live it – though quietly, and without fanfare. The learning happened through felt experience – how safety heals the nervous system, how being truly seen can soften fragmentation, how connection itself becomes medicine. For survivors, this kind of work offers more than strategies—it offers deep understanding and hope. For clinicians, it models what is possible when theory is embodied, not just taught. I didn’t know I was witnessing the early formation of a field. I only knew I was beginning to heal.
When I first entered therapy with Dr. Dan Siegel, Interpersonal Neurobiology was still in its earliest stages of development. I had no idea then that something new and integrative was being shaped in real time. What I did know - deeply, unmistakably - was how it felt to be in therapy with him. There was a quality of safety that didn’t need explanation. A steadiness. A kind of presence that...
A Quiet Masterclass in Healing
A Quiet Masterclass in Healing When I first entered therapy with Dr. Dan Siegel, Interpersonal Neurobiology was still in its earliest stages of development. I had no idea then that something new and integrative was being shaped in real time. What I did know - deeply, unmistakably - was how it felt to be in therapy with him. There was a quality of safety that didn’t need explanation. A...
What Does Integration Truly Mean in the Context of DID
What does Integration Truly Mean in the Context of DID? SALLY MASLANSKY DEC 24, 2025 I’m sharing a post written by a fellow clinician & GAINS (Global Association for Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies) member, Liesbet Plissart that stopped me in my tracks when I read it on LinkedIn. It speaks thoughtfully and generously to what integration can truly mean in the context of DID, through...