Do you dream of writing your story?
Have you begun?
Are you still thinking about it?
Your story of survival is important!
Don’t put off what your heart is telling you to do today.
Dissociative Writers (DW) are people just like you and me – men, women, and non-binary people who write about their experiences of living with a dissociative disorder – poetry, memoir, fiction, non-fiction, dramatic scripts, whatever our chosen medium may be. We gather in virtual writers’ workshops and in memoir classes to explore our creative depths through writing. We write at home, at work, in journals, on computers. We welcome our parts, young and old, to participate.
To read works published by subscribers to Dissociative Writers, click on the button below.
The mission of Dissociative Writers, Inc. is to provide a safe space to support one another in our writing as people with dissociative coping strategies and to encourage the creativity that helped us survive to tell our stories.
Weekly Writers’ Workshops
Mondays at 12 noon Eastern US Time
Tuesdays at 1:00 pm Eastern US Time
Wednesdays at 8:00 pm Eastern US Time
Writers Workshops are open to people with dissociative disorders who wish to share their writing with others for feedback and affirmation. Our workshops welcome folks at all stages of writing – beginners to experienced – and in many genres – from journaling, essays, poetry, memoir, to fiction. You will find a supportive community at Dissociative Writers Workshops!
Workshops are currently scheduled every Tuesday at 1 pm Eastern US Time (12 pm Central, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific) in two different formats on alternate weeks: draft & discuss where writers sign up ahead of time to share their writing for feedback, and writing-in-place where writers come without pre-written pieces and write in the workshop in response to prompts.
We also offer an evening writing-in-place workshop on Wednesdays at 8 pm Eastern (7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, 5 pm Pacific Time).
Focused writing group meets weekly on Mondays at 12 noon Eastern (11 am Central, 10 am Mountain, 9 am Pacific). This is a time for subscribers to bring their own writing projects to the table and write for 60-90 minutes with brief check-ins. There is no feedback given at Focused Writing, just a time to write with peers.
Dissociative Writers’ community platform is Heartbeat Chat. All Zoom gatherings can be accessed from there, as well as discussion channels pertaining to writing and related issues.
To participate in writers workshops on Heartbeat Chat, please click on the Subscribe! button below.
Dissociative Writers offers writers support in:
Writing
Blogging
Collective Writing (Anthologies)
Speaking Experience at Conferences
Promoting Personal Published Work
DW Writes On!
You can help Dissociative Writers continue to be a safe haven for writers who use dissociative coping strategies as a result of chronic childhood trauma by donating once or on a recurring basis using the PayPal link below. Thank you, in advance, for your kindness and generosity.
To contact us directly about our writers groups, please click here.
Click this PayPal link to support Dissociative Writers.
“The DID writers workshop turned out to be much more than we imagined. We were nervous about sharing our work. Everyone was supportive. We get to choose what type of comments we want to hear. We learn about writing from what others write and we also find affirmation, support, and information about life as DID people.” ~ Jill & Co.
2025 Memoir 101 Class
New 8-Week Class for Dissociative Writers
September 8, 15, 22, 29 One Week Break October 13, 20, 27 November 3, 2025
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET
Our 2025 class is now 8-weeks instead of 6-weeks to allow more time for more discussion of more material!
This is a beginners class is for people who want to write their story in memoir form. Maya Angelou, who wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, said, “There’s no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” If you have a story inside you and are ready to take your writing to the next level, this class is for you.
We will meet virtually on Mondays for two-hours a week for eight-weeks, with a one-week break halfway through the class schedule. The first hour of each class will focus on elements of memoir writing, including: motivation and theme, truth and fact, starting and ending points, narrative arc, character development, dialogue, and emotional and practical exposure. The second hour will allow three participants to share their writing and receive support and feedback from the rest of the group. Each participant will be able to share their writing two times over the duration of the class.
The class takes place on Zoom but between-class communication occurs on Dissociative Writers’ communication platform called Heartbeat Chat. On this platform, you can access a video and articles for each class and participate in a discussion channel especially for you.
By the end of the class, you will know how to tackle your memoir at whatever stage it is in now, and you will have taken many steps toward actualizing your project. You will have a variety of resources available for you refer to as you move forward on this journey. You will also be eligible to participate in Dissociative Writers’ Memoir Alumni/ae Gathering which meets several times a year.
The class will have a minimum of five students and a maximum of nine. Each participant is encouraged to talk with their therapist prior to registering to make sure they are ready to tackle the hard but fulfilling work of writing memoir.
Memoir by Nives Palmic / Art Majeur
September 8, 15, 22, 29, Break, October 13, 20, 27, November 3, 2025
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET
Cost $280. Dissociative Writers subscribers receive a 20% discount, which reduces the cost to $224.
Two-Step Registration begins in January 2025:
Fill in the Memoir Registration by clicking on the underlined link.
Pay by PayPal in the registration area.
Or, for a free 15-minute phone or zoom conversation with Lyn, please request that in the Contact Form.
Refund Policy: A full refund, minus a $10 processing fee, is available if you notify us 30 days in advance of the start of the class, or August 9, 2025. After that, the cost of the class if forfeited.
“This workshop creates a space for writing. My fellow writers will not be afraid of me, or afraid of breaking me, because they understand me and they understand trauma.” ~ D.C.
Download FREE ebook:
Creative Healing: Prose, Poetry, & Artwork by Dissociative Writers, Volume 4
“Being able to express my trauma/dissociation through different modes of writing is challenging but having the group support is reassuring for my more mature parts.” ~ Carrie
Lyn’s Blog
My name is Lyn Barrett and I’m a dissociative writer like you. (To see my bio, click here.) Please read my memoir, Crazy: Reclaiming Life from the Shadow of Traumatic Memory, available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and good bookstores everywhere. If you read Crazy and like it, I’d be pleased if you’d leave a review on the site where you bought it. Together, we can erase stigma and educate the world with authentic stories of people with DID.
