Helpful aspects of a psychoeducational program for individuals with complex dissociation: An update for the Finding Solid Ground program

The Finding Solid Ground program is a psychoeducational program that is grounded in research on individuals with complex trauma histories and dissociative symptoms, experiences that can be distressing and impairing. A randomized controlled trial examining the use of the Finding Solid Ground program in conjunction with individual therapy found the program to outperform individual therapy alone and have large effect sizes after one year (Brand et al., 2025). The current study investigated interim qualitative data from clients who participated in the randomized controlled trial. The primary aim of this study was to understand clients’ experiences of the Finding Solid Ground program. In the current study, we conducted a deductive content analysis using Pierorazio et al.’s (2024) framework for coding. Results revealed that clients experienced the components of the Finding Solid Ground program as helpful (i.e., its content and structure). They experienced improved therapeutic processes (i.e., increased sense of connection, receiving empathy, contributing to something larger, and improved therapeutic work) and outcomes (i.e., increased insight, hope, self-compassion, safety, and functioning). These findings are consistent with clients’ experiences of an earlier version of the Finding Solid Ground program and suggest that the program facilitates helpful processes and outcomes when used as an adjunct to individual psychotherapy. This research is positioned in dialogue with promising quantitative results from the Finding Solid Ground randomized controlled trial (Brand et al., 2025). Together, this study and other research on the Finding Solid Ground program suggest therapists can use the program to promote clients’ healing from complex trauma and dissociation.