Dissociation is better known as zoning out. Everyone dissociates to some point which is normal like daydreaming on a long stretch of highway where there is no traffic and you don't hardly recall how the whole trip to your destination. Or spacing out at a boring meeting or class.

But dissociation can happen to people who have survived trauma or abuse where they loose time like they zone out for hours especially when faced with something that upsets them. There is also DID or Dissociation disorders which is a more extreme form of dissociation where people have multiple personalities or alters, some get amnesia, move to another town and live as someone else not knowing.

I'm copying some things from another post someone wrote to me. Hopefully will answer your question. Don't worry just cuz your T said you dissociate; doesn't automatically mean a person has DID.

What are Dissociative Disorders?

Depersonalization Disorder - a feeling that your body is unreal, changing or dissolving. Strong feelings that you are detached from your body.

Dissociative Amnesia - not being able to remember important personal information or incidents and experiences that happened at a particular time, which can't be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.

Dissociative Fugue - there is severe amnesia, with moderate to severe identity confusion and often identity alteration. For instance, a person travels to a new location during a temporary loss of identity. He or she may assume a different identity and a new life.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - this person may experience flashbacks, reliving the trauma repeatedly, which causes extreme distress. This, in turn, triggers a dissociative, numbing reaction.

Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (DDNOS) - different types of dissociation may occur, but the pattern of mix and severity does not fit any specific dissociative disorder.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) - sometimes called Multi-Personality Disorder (MPD). Someone with DID experiences shifts of identity as separate personalities. Each identity may assume control of behavior and thoughts at different times. Each has a distinctive pattern of thinking and relating to the world. Severe amnesia means that one identity may have no awareness of what happens when another identity is in control.