--- title: "7 Disorder Quotes By Alison Miller" description: "7 Disorder quotes by Alison Miller. Plus more from Alison Miller and more Disorder sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/807/alison-miller-20257_abuse_what-daily-life-is-like-for-a-multiple-i_351229.jpg" --- > [“What daily life is like for “a multiple” Imagine that you have periods of “lost time.” You may find writings or drawings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/what-daily-life-is-like-for-a-multiple-imagine-that-you-have-periods/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/807/alison-miller-20257_abuse_what-daily-life-is-like-for-a-multiple-i_351229.jpg) > [“Denial is commonly found among persons with dissociative disorders. My favorite quotation from such a client is, "We are not multiple, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/denial-is-commonly-found-among-persons-with-dissociative-disorders-my/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/alison-miller-20257_child-abuse_denial-is-commonly-found-among-persons-w_1190053.jpg) > [“Those who are aware of their condition and experience themselves as "multiple" might refer to themselves as "we" rather than "I." I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/those-who-are-aware-of-their-condition-and-experience-themselves-as/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/566/alison-miller-20257_alter_those-who-are-aware-of-their-condition-a_1597251.jpg) > [“Although it is important to be able to recognise and disclose symptom of physical illnesses or injury, you need to be more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/although-it-is-important-to-be-able-to-recognise-and-disclose-symptom/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/alison-miller-20257_bipolar_although-it-is-important-to-be-able-to-r_2062897.jpg) > [“It is unlikely that one ANP will serve as a constant throughout the person's life. Your client is, therefore, likely to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/it-is-unlikely-that-one-anp-will-serve-as-a-constant-throughout-the/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/alison-miller-20257_alter_it-is-unlikely-that-one-anp-will-serve-a_2567397.jpg) > [“The "apparently normal personality" - the alter you view as "the client" You should not assume that the adult who function in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/the-apparently-normal-personality-the-alter-you-view-as-the-client/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/alison-miller-20257_alter_the-apparently-normal-personality-the-al_2718628.jpg) > [“It is important to learn about being multiple, and what works for their healing, from your client. To work with the alters,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/it-is-important-to-learn-about-being-multiple-and-what-works-for/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/alison-miller-20257_anp_it-is-important-to-learn-about-being-mul_2965492.jpg) ## Other authors on Disorder ## More by Alison Miller > [“Ritually abusive groups also convince children that something evil has been put inside them. For example, a child is made to believe he or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/ritually-abusive-groups-also-convince-children-that-something-evil/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“What daily life is like for “a multiple” Imagine that you have periods of “lost time.” You may find writings or drawings which you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/what-daily-life-is-like-for-a-multiple-imagine-that-you-have-periods/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“Besides stage magic props and settings, ritually abusing groups use technology, such as that described by Katz and Fotheringham. Military/political groups have the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/besides-stage-magic-props-and-settings-ritually-abusing-groups-use/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“The child who attends school does not remember the abuse that happens at home or via the family; those memories are held in another part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/the-child-who-attends-school-does-not-remember-the-abuse-that-happens/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“In my client who had confessed her “alien abduction” experience, an alter had been instructed that if she began to remember the ritual abuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/in-my-client-who-had-confessed-her-alien-abduction-experience-an/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“After a victim is made to participate in an act of evil, the people in charge put a lot of energy into convincing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/after-a-victim-is-made-to-participate-in-an-act-of-evil-the-people-in/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“In fact, rather than being "more" than the others, the ANP is generally one that is very limited, with little power in the system,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/in-fact-rather-than-being-more-than-the-others-the-anp-is-generally/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“Because the problem of ritual abuse and mind control has not gone away - the survivors are still there - many more therapists have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/because-the-problem-of-ritual-abuse-and-mind-control-has-not-gone/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“When one of my early teachers, for instance, recognized that many ritually abused clients were still being abused while in treatment, she insisted that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/when-one-of-my-early-teachers-for-instance-recognized-that-many/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“Punishments include such things as flashbacks, flooding of unbearable emotions, painful body memories, flooding of memories in which the survivor perpetrated against others, self-harm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/punishments-include-such-things-as-flashbacks-flooding-of-unbearable/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“I recently consulted to a therapist who felt he had accomplished something by getting his dissociative client to remain in her ANP throughout her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/i-recently-consulted-to-a-therapist-who-felt-he-had-accomplished/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“A child who is being abused on an ongoing basis needs to be able to function despite the trauma that dominates his or her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/a-child-who-is-being-abused-on-an-ongoing-basis-needs-to-be-able-to/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“Denial is commonly found among persons with dissociative disorders. My favorite quotation from such a client is, "We are not multiple, we made it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/denial-is-commonly-found-among-persons-with-dissociative-disorders-my/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“Also, look for “floating alters.” These are not deliberately created parts of the system, but alters that were accidentally split off at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/also-look-for-floating-alters-these-are-not-deliberately-created/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“Then, suddenly, the work became dangerous, not only for clients but for therapists as well. A well-funded, highly organized opposition appeared, seemingly out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/then-suddenly-the-work-became-dangerous-not-only-for-clients-but-for/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disorder/alison-miller/#itemlist", "name": "7 Disorder Quotes By Alison Miller", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What daily life is like for “a multiple” Imagine that you have periods of “lost time.” You may find writings or drawings which you must have done, but do not remember producing. Perhaps you find child-sized clothing or toys in your home but have no children. You might also hear voices or babies crying in your head. Imagine that you can never predict when you will be able to have certain knowledge or social skills, and your emotions and your energy level seem to change at the drop of a hat, and for no apparent reason. You cannot understand why you feel what you feel, and, if you are in therapy, you cannot explore those feelings when asked. Your life feels disjointed and often confusing. It is a frightening experience. It feels out of control, and you probably think you are going crazy. That is what it is like to be multiple, and all of it is experienced by the ANPs. A multiple may also experience very concrete problems, even life-threatening ones.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alison Miller" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/what-daily-life-is-like-for-a-multiple-imagine-that-you-have-periods/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/807/alison-miller-20257_abuse_what-daily-life-is-like-for-a-multiple-i_351229.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/807/alison-miller-20257_abuse_what-daily-life-is-like-for-a-multiple-i_351229.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/807/alison-miller-20257_abuse_what-daily-life-is-like-for-a-multiple-i_351229.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What daily life is like for “a multiple” Imagine that you have periods of “lost time.” You may find writings…” — Alison Miller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Denial is commonly found among persons with dissociative disorders. My favorite quotation from such a client is, \"We are not multiple, we made it all up.\" I have heard this from several different clients. When I hear it, I politely inquire, \"And who is we?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alison Miller" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/denial-is-commonly-found-among-persons-with-dissociative-disorders-my/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/alison-miller-20257_child-abuse_denial-is-commonly-found-among-persons-w_1190053.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/alison-miller-20257_child-abuse_denial-is-commonly-found-among-persons-w_1190053.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/554/alison-miller-20257_child-abuse_denial-is-commonly-found-among-persons-w_1190053.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Denial is commonly found among persons with dissociative disorders. My favorite quotation from such a client…” — Alison Miller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Those who are aware of their condition and experience themselves as \"multiple\" might refer to themselves as \"we\" rather than \"I.\" I shall use the term \"multiple\" at times, in respect for their internal experience. It is important to point out, however, that I recognize that someone who is multiple is actually a single fragmented person rather than many people. On the outside, a multiple is probably not visibly different from anyone else. But that image is only an imitation: people who are multiple cannot think like the rest of us, and we cannot think like them. (In fact, since it is difficult for the multiple to understand how singletons think, some of them might think that is is you who are strange). Just as a singleton cannot become a multiple at will, a multiple cannot become a singleton until and unless the barriers between the parts of the self are removed. Those barriers were put up to enable the child to tolerate, and so survive, unavoidable abuse. p20 [Multiple: a person with dissociative identity disorder (DID) or DDNOS. Singleton: a person without DID or DDNOS, i.e with a single, unified personality]”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alison Miller" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/those-who-are-aware-of-their-condition-and-experience-themselves-as/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/566/alison-miller-20257_alter_those-who-are-aware-of-their-condition-a_1597251.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/566/alison-miller-20257_alter_those-who-are-aware-of-their-condition-a_1597251.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/566/alison-miller-20257_alter_those-who-are-aware-of-their-condition-a_1597251.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Those who are aware of their condition and experience themselves as \"multiple\" might refer to themselves as…” — Alison Miller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Although it is important to be able to recognise and disclose symptom of physical illnesses or injury, you need to be more careful about revealing psychiatric symptoms. Unless you know that your doctor understands trauma symptoms, including dissociation, you are wise not to reveal too much. Too many medical professionals, including psychiatrists, believe that hearing voices is a sign of schizophrenia, that mood swings mean bipolar disorder which has to be medicated, and that depression requires electro-convulsive therapy if medication does not relieve it sufficiently. The “medical model” simply does not work for dissociation, and many treatments can do more harm than good... You do not have to tell someone everything just because he is she is a doctor. However, if you have a therapist, even a psychiatrist, who does understand, you need to encourage your parts to be honest with that person. Then you can get appropriate help.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alison Miller" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/although-it-is-important-to-be-able-to-recognise-and-disclose-symptom/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/alison-miller-20257_bipolar_although-it-is-important-to-be-able-to-r_2062897.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/alison-miller-20257_bipolar_although-it-is-important-to-be-able-to-r_2062897.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c3/alison-miller-20257_bipolar_although-it-is-important-to-be-able-to-r_2062897.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Although it is important to be able to recognise and disclose symptom of physical illnesses or injury, you…” — Alison Miller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is unlikely that one ANP will serve as a constant throughout the person's life. Your client is, therefore, likely to have others besides the ones you know, or several who you might think of as \"the host\". Adults with dissociative disorders often have several ANPs from earlier stages of life inside. They usually have the same name but are of different ages. Sometimes, there are several current ANPs, each of whom assumes she or he is the \"real\" person and is amnesiac for the existence of the others. Their current knowledge and experience may overlap, while their other characteristics differ somewhat. This makes them glide easily from one to the other, and the therapist can easily miss the switch. p22”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alison Miller" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/it-is-unlikely-that-one-anp-will-serve-as-a-constant-throughout-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/alison-miller-20257_alter_it-is-unlikely-that-one-anp-will-serve-a_2567397.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/alison-miller-20257_alter_it-is-unlikely-that-one-anp-will-serve-a_2567397.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39e/alison-miller-20257_alter_it-is-unlikely-that-one-anp-will-serve-a_2567397.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is unlikely that one ANP will serve as a constant throughout the person's life. Your client is…” — Alison Miller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The \"apparently normal personality\" - the alter you view as \"the client\" You should not assume that the adult who function in the world, or who presents to you, week after week, is the \"real\" person, and the other personalities are less real. The client who comes to therapy is not \"the\" person; there are other personalities to meet and work with. When DID was still officially called MPD, the \"person\" who lived life on the outside was known as the \"host\" personality, and the other parts were known as alters. These terms, unfortunately, implied that all the parts other than the host were guests, and therefore of less importance than the host. They were somehow secondary. The currently favored theory of structural dissociation (Nijenhuis & Den Boer, 2009; van der Hart, Nijenhuis, & Steele, 2006), which more accurately describes the way personality systems operate, instead distinguishes between two kinds of states: the apparently normal personality, or ANP, and the emotional personality, or EP, both of which could include a number of parts. p21”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alison Miller" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/the-apparently-normal-personality-the-alter-you-view-as-the-client/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/alison-miller-20257_alter_the-apparently-normal-personality-the-al_2718628.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/alison-miller-20257_alter_the-apparently-normal-personality-the-al_2718628.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/798/alison-miller-20257_alter_the-apparently-normal-personality-the-al_2718628.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The \"apparently normal personality\" - the alter you view as \"the client\" You should not assume that the…” — Alison Miller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is important to learn about being multiple, and what works for their healing, from your client. To work with the alters, rather than trying to get the ANP to control the rest of the personality system.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alison Miller" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/it-is-important-to-learn-about-being-multiple-and-what-works-for/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/alison-miller-20257_anp_it-is-important-to-learn-about-being-mul_2965492.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/alison-miller-20257_anp_it-is-important-to-learn-about-being-mul_2965492.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/alison-miller-20257_anp_it-is-important-to-learn-about-being-mul_2965492.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is important to learn about being multiple, and what works for their healing, from your client. To work…” — Alison Miller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disorder/alison-miller/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disorder/alison-miller/", "name": "Disorder Quotes by Alison Miller", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disorder/alison-miller/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/807/alison-miller-20257_abuse_what-daily-life-is-like-for-a-multiple-i_351229.jpg" }, "description": "7 Disorder quotes by Alison Miller. 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