Greg Nooney, LCSW

9:48 AM

I first heard Greg Nooney when I took his PESI class in Feb 2024 "Dissociative Identity Disorder, Diagnosis, Stabilization and Complex Trauma Treatment in Clients with DID"

And I heard Greg Nooney speak at the Infinite Mind Healing Together conference in Feb? 2024. Collaborative Healing: Best Practices in Working with Clients with Dissociative Systems September 8, 2024, Gregory L. Nooney, MSW, ACSW, LISW (IA), LCSW (HI)

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Nooney suggests 3 Pillars of treatment:

First Pillar

Here are Nooney's 3 Domains of treatment modalities:

This is Nooney's developmental model.

Second Pillar:

Inner World

Third Pillar:

The Three C's

Greg Nooney explicitly talks about the “Three Cs” when conceptualizing dissociative systems:

👉 Communication
👉 Cooperation
👉 Co-consciousness

He uses these as clinical dimensions to understand how organized or integrated a system is, especially in Phase 1 stabilization work.

Below is a synthesis of his model (from his books, trainings, and DID clinical literature), plus how clinicians often operationalize it.

🧠 Nooney’s “Three Cs” — How systems are described

Nooney emphasizes that treatment involves helping clients develop internal communication, cooperation, and co-consciousness as part of stabilization and healing. (NASW Press)

Think of these as axes — not categories. Systems can be high in one and low in another.

1️⃣ Communication — “Can parts talk or share information?”

Definition:
The degree to which alters can exchange information internally.

Low communication

Amnesia barriers
Parts unaware of each other
“Lost time”
Sudden switches with confusion
Internal silence

Moderate

Occasional internal dialogue
Journaling between parts
Therapist-mediated communication
Dreams or symbolic messages

High

Ongoing internal conversation
Shared memory channels
Internal meetings
Negotiation around decisions

Clinical goal: Reduce secrecy and isolation.

2️⃣ Cooperation — “Do parts work toward shared safety?”

Definition:
How willing parts are to collaborate rather than sabotage.

Low cooperation

Internal conflict or “wars”
Self-harm or risky behaviors by some parts
Hostile protectors
Competing agendas

Moderate

Conditional agreements
Parts tolerate each other
Therapist helps negotiate

High

Shared goals
Mutual respect
System agreements
Protective coordination

Clinical goal: Build internal trust and reduce polarization.

3️⃣ Co-consciousness — “Who is aware when someone else is out?”

Definition:
Simultaneous awareness across parts.

Low co-consciousness

Full switching with blackout
“Coming to” in new places
Memory gaps

Moderate

Watching from inside
Partial awareness
Emotional bleed-through

High

Shared observing self
Continuous awareness
Blended or dual awareness

Clinical goal: Increase continuity of experience.

🪶 How clinicians often describe systems using these dimensions

You might hear formulations like:

“Low communication, low cooperation, low co-consciousness” → highly dissociated
“Good communication but low cooperation” → negotiating system
“High co-consciousness but conflict” → aware but polarized
“High across all three” → functional multiplicity or nearing integration

This is much more nuanced than just “integrated vs fragmented.”

🧩 Why Nooney emphasizes this

His stance (very consistent with ISSTD guidelines) is:

👉 Multiplicity is adaptive
👉 Forcing fusion is not the goal
👉 Increasing the Three Cs increases safety

He specifically warns about not breaking dissociative barriers too quickly, because destabilization risk rises if cooperation isn’t there yet. (NASW Press)