Trauma and Dissociation: Assessment & Treatment
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Instructor: This course is designed to fulfill the goal of describing the presentation and course of treatment of dissociative identity disorder in childhood trauma survivors.
This course is designed for professionals who have seen between five and 15 cases of some type of dissociative disorder within the past five years, or who have no experience with these disorders and would like an update and overview of where the field is now.
This course examines the major theory and research contributions to our understanding of the dissociative disorders, with particular attention on trauma, resilience and attachment research. The course will also focus on assessment, with a review of screening as well as diagnostic instruments and ways to understand and assess the frequently-appearing comorbid disorders of borderline personality disorder (and other personality disorders), somatoform disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as issues of factitious disorder and malingering.
In addition, the course focuses on the treatment of dissociative disorders, including issues of treatment frame and boundaries, communicating with “alters,” transference/countertransference problems, use of specialized techniques such as hypnosis, EMDR, art therapies. Special problem areas that will be covered include problems with memory, treatment trajectories and integration. Risk management issues will be discussed throughout the course.
Topics:
- The relationships between trauma and dissociation
- Developments in trauma research
- Developments in resilience research
- Developments in attachment research
- Assessment: screening and diagnostic instruments
- Dissociation and comorbidity with other disorders
- Principles of treatment
- Treatment frame and boundaries
- Communication with “alters”
- Transference and countertransference
- Treatment trajectories
- Fusion and integration
- Treatment techniques, stages and strategies
- Traumatic memory
- Trauma and shame – the focal problem
- Risk management for professionals
Course Goal and Objectives
Objectives: Completion of the 3.0-hour course will enhance your ability to:
- Identify three component symptom clusters caused by trauma
- List at least three factors associated with high degrees of resilience
- Be able to define resilience
- Distinguish between dissociation and repression
- Define “trauma-bonded: alters
- Distinguish between “problems” and “principles”
- Describe at least two varieties of “switching”
- Describe at least two forms of affect management
