Feeling safe and being gentle with myself are the keys, I've found, to less dissociation. Those take time and patience, especially when I'm deliberately trying to work through issues in therapy, I need to be willing to take it slowly.

However, one thing that really helps me facilitate emotional release is music. I have a playlist of songs that I find resonant, and using those has helped me a lot when I need to sink down into that deeper, more emotionally centered place, or just have a good cry. It doesn't always work, but it does help some.

Also, a goal is to dissociate less, and to do that, I know that coping strategies for dealing with emotions as they arise helps, so there's less you have to put off or put away to process later. Breathing exercises and visualizations can help, I really find just having support, not being alone helps.

Honestly, for me, to stop dissociating a lot took years though. I'm sure it varies, but... I found the key thing was having a safe life set up. For me that meant good job, marriage, stable living space, relative calm, no abuse. As I put those big things in place, I just didn't need the dissociation anymore.