Healing Through Connection, Compassion, and Consciousness

Publications

Books

Inside the Conference Room: A Clinician's Guide to Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder

In development, anticipated 2026-2027

This comprehensive clinical manual integrates fifteen years of practice refinement with George Fraser's conference room technique, offering detailed guidance for clinicians treating dissociative identity disorder. The book bridges theoretical frameworks from structural dissociation, Internal Family Systems, and EMDR therapy with practical, session-by-session interventions.

Chapters cover assessment and diagnosis, understanding the phenomenology of DID, establishing safety and stabilization, developing internal communication through conference room work, trauma processing considerations, crisis management, ethical complexities, and the therapeutic relationship. Extensive case examples illustrate clinical decision-making across diverse presentations, while appendices provide assessment tools, worksheets, and a comprehensive research bibliography.

The book emphasizes phase-oriented treatment, collaborative work with protective parts, and integration of evidence-based modalities while maintaining authentic clinical voice grounded in real practice wisdom.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Manuscripts in Development:

My current research program encompasses five interconnected papers examining the intersection of EMDR therapy, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, and dissociative disorders. These manuscripts address critical gaps in the literature where established trauma treatment modalities intersect with emerging psychedelic-assisted approaches.

1. EMDR and Psycholytic Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
This paper proposes a model for integrating psycholytic dosing of ketamine (25-200mg sublingual) with standard EMDR protocols for clients with complex dissociative presentations. Clinical observations suggest that psycholytic doses maintain cognitive clarity necessary for dual-attention stimulation while temporarily reducing defensive barriers that often block trauma processing. The manuscript examines dosing optimization, the role of conference room technique in maintaining parts communication during altered states, and preliminary outcomes across three detailed case presentations involving DID/OSDD-1 clients.

2. EMDR as Non-Ordinary State of Consciousness (NOSC)
This theoretical paper explores phenomenological parallels between EMDR bilateral stimulation and ketamine-facilitated states, proposing that both modalities induce non-ordinary states of consciousness that activate natural healing mechanisms. The work examines how dual-attention creates a unique therapeutic state characterized by simultaneous access to traumatic material and present safety—a quality that may explain both EMDR's effectiveness and its compatibility with psycholytic ketamine protocols. This framework has implications for understanding why these modalities complement each other at neurobiological and experiential levels.

3. Dissociation Screening Protocols for Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
While practitioners increasingly work with clients who have unrecognized dissociative disorders in psychedelic therapy settings, no standardized screening instruments exist to identify these presentations during KAP intake. This paper develops assessment protocols sensitive to dissociative phenomenology, outlines modified treatment approaches for clients with DID/OSDD-1, and establishes safety considerations unique to structural dissociation in ketamine therapy. The work addresses a critical patient safety gap in the expanding field of psychedelic-assisted treatment.

4. Trauma-Informed Care Principles in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
This practice-oriented paper translates core trauma-informed care principles (safety, trustworthiness, collaboration, empowerment, cultural sensitivity) into specific protocols for ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. The manuscript addresses assessment approaches that build trust, preparation strategies that establish psychological safety, in-session support adapted to trauma histories, and integration processes that honor client agency. This work provides practical guidance for clinicians working with trauma survivors in psychedelic therapy contexts.

5. Conference Room Technique Integration with Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy
This paper examines how Fraser's conference room technique can be adapted for use during ketamine sessions with dissociative clients. The work explores using conference room meetings in preparation phases to establish internal system consent, maintaining conference room access during psycholytic dosing for real-time parts communication, and utilizing post-session conference room work for integration across the internal system. Case examples demonstrate practical applications and troubleshoot common clinical challenges.

Additional details and publication information will be provided as manuscripts progress through peer review and are accepted for publication.

Research Approach & Ethics

Methodological Foundations

This research program relies on careful clinical observation within naturalistic treatment settings rather than controlled experimental designs. All work emerges from real therapeutic relationships with clients who have provided comprehensive informed consent for de-identified use of session material in scholarly publication. This approach prioritizes ecological validity and clinical relevance while maintaining rigorous ethical standards.

Clinical observations are documented through audio/video recording of sessions, detailed session notes, and follow-up assessments. All case material is thoroughly de-identified with pseudonyms, altered identifying details, and composite presentations where appropriate. Multiple levels of review ensure that published material could not reasonably identify any specific individual.

Ethical Commitments

Informed Consent: All clients whose treatment informs this research have provided explicit written consent for de-identified use of clinical material in publication. This consent process addresses the nature of scholarly publication, de-identification procedures, and clients' rights to withdraw consent or request modifications.

Confidentiality Protection: Published case material undergoes rigorous de-identification including pseudonyms, altered demographics, composite presentations, and removal of unique identifying details. When session transcripts are excerpted, all identifying information is removed or changed.

Clinical Priority: Research interests never supersede clinical needs. Treatment decisions are always guided by what serves the client's therapeutic progress, not by research considerations. If clinical needs conflict with research protocols, clinical needs always take precedence.

Multiple Perspectives: For clients with dissociative disorders, informed consent processes include discussion with the presenting client and, where clinically appropriate, consultation with protective parts to ensure the entire internal system has awareness of and agreement with research participation.

Scholarly Integrity: All cited sources are personally reviewed. Clinical insights and theoretical frameworks originate from direct clinical experience and engagement with the professional literature, not from AI generation. While AI tools assist with organizing complex clinical knowledge into linear prose (a specific accommodation for neurodivergent information processing), all substantive content derives from clinical expertise and scholarly engagement.

Scope of Claims: This research acknowledges its limitations as clinical observation rather than controlled experimentation. Findings are presented as preliminary observations requiring systematic evaluation through formal research designs, not as established treatment protocols.

Transparency About AI Use

In the interest of professional transparency: AI (specifically Claude.ai) assists with organizing complex clinical knowledge into linear prose—a valuable accommodation for neurodivergent information processing styles. However, all clinical insights, theoretical frameworks, treatment innovations, and case conceptualizations originate entirely from direct clinical experience and personal engagement with the professional literature. AI serves as a tool for translation and organization, not for generation of clinical content or substitution of clinical judgment.

This approach balances the benefits of assistive technology with commitments to scholarly integrity and authentic clinical voice.

Professional Background

Seaghan Coleman, MSW, LCSW-R
EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Basic Trainer
Trained Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapist
Founder, Samadhi Healing Collective, Buffalo, New York
Co-Founder, Buffalo EMDR Training Institute

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7457-1765

EMDRIA Credentials: Certified Therapist, Approved Consultant, Basic Trainer, and member of the Approved Consultants Workgroup

Clinical Expertise

With over fifteen years specializing in complex trauma and dissociative disorders, I bring extensive clinical experience to this research program. My practice focuses on clients with dissociative identity disorder, OSDD-1, and complex PTSD, utilizing EMDR therapy, Internal Family Systems, conference room technique, and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.

Training & Education

As an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Basic Trainer, I have delivered over 650 hours of therapy training, including EMDR, to mental health professionals across the United States and Canada, including a five-year appointment teaching graduate-level EMDR therapy at SUNY Buffalo Graduate School of Social Work. This extensive teaching experience informs my research focus on translating sophisticated clinical frameworks into accessible, practical interventions for community clinicians.

My training encompasses EMDR therapy (including specialized training in dissociative disorders and complex trauma), ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and extensive study of structural dissociation theory. Training in ACT provides additional frameworks for working with psychological flexibility, values clarification, and acceptance processes—particularly valuable when clients struggle with identity fragmentation and existential questions about self and meaning.

Through ongoing provision of consultation and supervision to clinicians treating complex trauma and dissociation, I remain deeply engaged with current clinical challenges and treatment innovations. This network of professional collaboration ensures my work stays grounded in real-world practice needs while developing cutting-edge applications.

Philosophical Approach

My clinical and research approach is informed by contemplative practice grounded in Buddhist frameworks. This contemplative foundation cultivates the somatic awareness and grounded presence essential for holding complex trauma material without becoming overwhelmed. The practice of sitting with suffering—both my own and others'—develops the embodied capacity to remain therapeutically present with fragmentation without becoming fragmented myself.

Beyond the pragmatic benefits for clinical work, this contemplative orientation reflects a deeper conviction: healing from trauma is inseparable from questions of meaning, purpose, and spiritual growth. Clients with complex dissociative presentations often grapple with profound existential questions—Who am I when "I" is multiple? What does it mean to have a coherent self? How do I find purpose when my identity itself feels fractured? These aren't peripheral concerns to be addressed after symptom reduction; they're central to the healing process itself.

My research interest in non-ordinary states of consciousness—whether induced through EMDR bilateral stimulation, ketamine, or contemplative practice—emerges from recognizing that transformation often occurs at the edges of ordinary awareness. These altered states can provide access to aspects of experience that remain defended against in normal consciousness, while also opening possibilities for insight, meaning-making, and connection to something larger than the traumatized self.

This philosophical orientation emphasizes pragmatic truth: what is helpful is true, what increases suffering is to be questioned. Clinical innovations must demonstrate their worth through reducing client suffering and increasing adaptive functioning, not merely through theoretical elegance or research protocol adherence. At the same time, "adaptive functioning" includes the capacity for wonder, meaning, purpose, and spiritual connection—not just symptom reduction or behavioral compliance.