Understanding Dissociation – What It Feels Like and How Therapy Can Help
Dissociation is a term you may have heard in conversations about trauma or mental health, but it can feel elusive or hard to describe. At its core, dissociation is a psychological response to overwhelming stress or trauma—an adaptive mechanism that allows a person to “disconnect” from experiences, emotions, or memories that feel too painful to process in the moment. While it can protect you in the short term, chronic dissociation can interfere with your ability to feel present, connect with others, and live fully in your body.
What Dissociation Feels Like
Dissociation can present itself in many ways, exists on a spectrum, and people experience it differently. It can be as simple as zoning out while watching TV to a more extreme example of losing an extended period of time, or even memories. Some common experiences include:
Feeling detached from your body or surroundings: You may feel like you’re observing yourself from outside your body, or that the world around you feels unreal or foggy.
Time lapses or memory gaps: You might lose chunks of time or have difficulty recalling certain events, conversations, or actions.
Emotional numbness: You may feel disconnected from your feelings, struggling to access joy, sadness, or anger.
Out-of-body or “floating” sensations: Some people describe a dreamlike or surreal experience, as if life is happening behind a glass wall.
Difficulty focusing or feeling “spaced out”: Concentration challenges and mental fog are common.
These experiences can be confusing, frightening, or even isolating. Many people hide their dissociation, fearing that others will misunderstand them or judge them as “weird” or “detached.”
Why Dissociation Happens
Dissociation is often rooted in early trauma or chronic stress, though it can also appear after acute traumatic events. When the brain perceives danger that feels overwhelming or inescapable, dissociation serves as a protective mechanism, allowing a person to survive situations that feel unbearable. I also stress that is its a coping skill—though one that can become maladaptive when it persists in daily life.
How Therapy Helps
Therapy offers a safe space to explore dissociation and its roots. A trained therapist can help you:
Recognize dissociative patterns: Understanding your dissociation is the first step in learning to manage it.
Reconnect with your body and emotions: Somatic therapies, mindfulness practices, and grounding techniques help you re-establish a sense of presence and safety.
Process trauma safely: Therapies like EMDR, IFS, and somatic approaches help integrate painful memories without triggering overwhelming dissociation.
Develop new coping strategies: Learning alternative ways to manage stress reduces the need for dissociation as a defense.
Therapy doesn’t “force” you to feel or remember anything before you’re ready—it supports you in gradually reclaiming your life, emotions, and presence in a way that feels safe and sustainable.
Moving Forward
If you experience dissociation, know that you’re not alone. It’s a common response to trauma and stress, and with consistent support, you can develop tools to feel grounded, present, and more connected to yourself. Therapy offers a path to understanding, managing, and ultimately reducing dissociation so that you can live more fully in your body and your life.
Want to Learn More?
If you're curious about understanding more about how dissociation shows up in your life, schedule your discovery call today!