Paper Doll Secrets

If you are paying attention to the paper dolls we use to help teach us the DBT skills, you may have noticed a few things about our paper dolls that are missing or don't make sense. We know some of us love a good conspiracy, that is a little bit of what this post is intended to uncover lighthearted secrets of the Come to Find Out paper dolls.

Reality vs. Digitally Dolled Up

One fun thing that working with paper dolls that have been converted into graphics is the ability to flip them around to make the face the other direction. This helps some of the doll's "conversations" to make more sense when the girls are looking in the same or opposite direction. In the real world, the paper dolls are in 2 dimensions, the dolls are printed on one side of the paper and can't be flipped to look the other way. However, we can also imagine anything we want during play, so flipping the dolls around may not be that exciting of a feature. It's nice to have when laying out graphics used to help make the DBT skills more understandable, easier to digest, and pick up quickly.

Patsy is missing her slippers

Patsy is our brunette doll, who I often think of as the most enthusiastic doll because of her raised hand positioning. She seems like a willing doll, a great skill to have in DBT. However, Patsy has a secret that isn't her fault. You will likely never see Patsy fully relaxed in her robe and slippers. It was simply a miss that I didn't scan Patsy's slippers during the original digitalization of the dolls. She has a pair of green slippers, but she is preeminently in her little black ballerina-style shoes. Here they are, shown below. Maybe one day, I'll go back and put the slippers on Patsy, and then she can fully relax with the other dolls.

The Site is a Teach to Learn Project

This site was started to help make the DBT skills more accessible to others. I am an Intensive Outpatient treatment dropout. For the few weeks that I was exposed to DBT, I learned just enough to get me started getting a handle on myself. Another little secret of this site could be that Radical Acceptance is my favorite skill. It is like a little superpower. I soon learned more of the distress tolerance skills, and they felt like lifelines or little gifts to me. Self-soothe? Are you kidding? When taking a hot bath, petting my dog, and eating something I love is a skill, I'm in! These things count as me being skillful and taking care of myself? Yes, please. If you are like me, I felt pretty guilty taking care of myself but eventually, the idea took root, and now I love practicing the skills.

Since learning these initial skills, I got the idea to use paper dolls to "teach to learn" the remaining skills. By preparing resources and graphics for each skill, I learn them and can begin to practice them more and more. I have a traumatic brain injury, so my brain works a little differently. I like a collage style of art and infographics appeal to me. I also love podcasts which use interviews, music, other recordings, and more to make the material they cover interesting. It seemed like there was probably a way we could do this on the digital page to share our personal experiences with survival and recovery. That's how Come to Find Out was born.

What secrets do you have that feel comfortable sharing with us? What stories are behind where you are now? What skills have been changing your life lately?