Dissociative Identity Disorder

Service Description

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), a common disorder resulting from severe early childhood trauma, is most typically associated with extreme and repeated episodes of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse. Dissociation occurs along a continuum from mild to severe. The mildest forms generally fall within the range of normal human experience, while the more severe forms pose a range of problems which debilitate the individual experiencing them. Dissociation can be viewed as a mental strategy or cognitive process that involves the ability to escape stressful or harmful situations by creating another place for the mind to go. This course offers an introduction to dissociative identity disorder which includes an overview of its diagnostic criteria, etiology, treatment phases, and key techniques. Learning Objectives: 1. Reviewing the history of DID: Prior to, during, and post Freud. 2. Etiology of DID: Four pathways to DID. 3. Assessment and diagnosis of DID. 4. Clinical features of DID 5. DID and other co-occurring disorders. 6. Principles of treatment for DID: Initial, middle, and late phases of treatment. 7. Key techniques to working with DID. a. Explaining DID to a client. b. Therapeutic neutrality c. Grounding techniques d. Talking through the alters e. Orienting alters to the body and the present. f. Creating empathy with the host g. Host resistance h. Working with persecutor alters and identification with the aggressor. i. Increasing interpersonal communication and cooperation, co-participation and co-consciousness j. Journaling and drawing k. and many other strategies and approaches