EP 249: Behaviors as Brilliant Adaptations with Sally Maslansky

Content warning: This episode includes discussion of severe trauma, abuse (including sexual abuse), dissociation, and suicidal ideation. Please take care while listening and pause if needed. In today’s episode, Robyn is joined by therapist, author, and adoptive parent Sally Maslansky to explore dissociative identity disorder through the lens of interpersonal neurobiology, attachment, and compassion. Together, they unpack how even the most confusing and baffling behaviors- ours and our children’s - can be understood as brilliant adaptations rooted in survival. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Why dissociative identity disorder can be understood as a brilliant adaptation to overwhelming early trauma How making sense of our own histories (especially implicit memory and attachment wounds) changes the way we parent and repair ruptures with our kids. What it looks like, in real life, to heal through connection, compassion, and feeling truly felt - and how these experiences invite our attachment systems to move toward security Resources Mentioned on the Podcast A Brilliant Adaptation by Sally Maslansky Virtual event with Sally Maslansky hosted by GAINS on January 21 Calling all professionals who work with the families of kids with dysregulated and big, baffling behaviors! I'm hosting my annual, FREE audio-training the week of May 4th! Head to RobynGobbel.com/BafflingBehaviors NOW to register so the moment the audios go live on May 4th, you'll have access right here in your podcast app! *** Let's hang out this summer at two different trainings for professionals! Therapy with Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors- June 1 & 2 in Syracuse, NY RobynGobbel.com/NY Presence in Practice- July 15, 16, & 17 in Rockford, MI (outside Grand Rapids) RobynGobbel.com/Michigan2026 ::: The All-About-Me workbook will help your child grow their owl brain and develop ways to calm their watchdog and possum brain. 24 page, full-color, instant download at RobynGobbel.com/store ::: Grab a copy of USA Today Best Selling book Raising Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors robyngobbel.com/book Join us in The Club for more support! robyngobbel.com/TheClub Sign up on the waiting list for the 2027 Cohorts of the Baffling Behavior Training Institute's Immersion Program for Professionals robyngobbel.com/Immersion Follow Me On: Facebook Instagram Over on my website you can find: Webinar and eBook on Focus on the Nervous System to Change Behavior (FREE) eBook on The Brilliance of Attachment (FREE) LOTS & LOTS of FREE Resources Ongoing support, connection, and co-regulation for struggling parents: The Club Year-Long Immersive & Holistic Training Program for Parenting Professionals: The Baffling Behavior Training Institute’s (BBTI) Professional Immersion Program (formerly Being With)

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EP 249: Behaviors as Brilliant Adaptations with Sally Maslansky is an episode from Parenting After Trauma with Robyn Gobbel by Robyn Gobbel.

This episode is 62:07 long.

This episode was published on Jan 20, 2026.

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