John needs to drive the car and Sad can’t drive — Methods for pulling people out of dissociation in public and private.
My husband and I occasionally ran into situations where, as useful as his alters were and as much as they were absolutely allowed to exist in their own right while their traumas were worked out, it was significantly more convenient to have his conscious mind in charge. For example, when he got triggered at work, when we were doing something social, when we were in public areas and his more volatile alters came out, on an airplane sitting across from the in-flight staff, and especially when he was driving or needed to drive. Thankfully his Mask/Arbitrator alter could drive, that was very lucky! Felt and Sandpaper Frankly, this one works better when supervised. If your partner isn’t supervised, only give them the felt. We learned the hard way that you can damage yourself with sandpaper. However, having your partner keep these around in their pocket can be handy. Feeling first the felt and then the sandpaper brings the mind into the present, reminds them of physical sensation