Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy

The Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS) is a comprehensive, gentle, strengths-based, client-centered, ego state therapy that treats adults wounded in childhood. It helps heal attachment wounds that originate with parental rejection, neglect, and enmeshment and trauma wounds that come from verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. Parts of self can get stuck in childhood when attachment needs and safety needs are not met [Page 289]well. The DNMS guides the Resources part of self to help wounded parts get unstuck from the past, by meeting those unmet needs now. As wounded parts heal, unwanted behaviors, beliefs, and emotions diminish. The DNMS has helped treat a wide variety of presenting problems from anxiety and depression to personality disorders and dissociative disorders.