Psychotherapy and assessment service for children, young people and adults.

 

telephone: 0796 224 8848

 

info@lifespan-psychotherapy.co.uk

 

Complex Trauma and Dissociative Disorders

We have developed the expertise and sensitivity to provide support to those who have experienced traumatic experiences.

These can be viewed as experiences which occur in the course of a person life (car accidents, witnessing a death) and repeated patterns of trauma (sexual, physical abuse).

Our approaches aims to support all clients to attain a greater sense of wellbeing and techniques such as EMDR can bring relief from debilitating experiences.

Belong is some information on Dissociative disorders, further information on the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is available on request, please just e-mail.

Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder typically includes the following components: a strong therapeutic relationship, a safe therapeutic environment, appropriate boundaries, development of no self- or other-harm contracts, an understanding of the personality structures, working through traumatic and dissociated material, the development of more mature psychological defences, and the integration of states of self.

Dissociation:

Have you ever experienced a total internal focusing on something you have been doing which makes the external seem to drift away? When watching the television, reading a book or driving the car, have you ever gone through a period of time where you have lost time when engrossed in a good book?

To dissociate is the wonderful ability to loose oneself at a particular moment and escape the day to day humdrum reality, and this is the ability that many of use during childhood. As adults reading this article I encourage you to think back to times where you may have used your imagination to 'make' things seem different. I remember when a child, a cardboard box had endless possibilities; a castle, a car….. which were only limited by imagination!

These kinds of normal dissociative responses begin to decrease with age, with its peak in terms of dissociative responses being around about the age of ten years. Dissociation for the child who is experiencing severe enduring trauma provides a coping mechanism to help them get through overwhelming experiences by separating themselves from the full impact of the immediate trauma which they are experiencing. In this way the child can ‘escape’ when there is no means of escape.

These dissociative patterns usually develop as a reaction to trauma and function to keep difficult memories at bay. An estimated 3 percent of U.S. adults are affected. Treatment may include psychotherapy, hypnosis and medication. Although the course of therapy can be difficult, many people with dissociative disorders are able to learn new ways of coping and lead healthy, productive lives and treatment outcomes can be positive.

Signs and Symptoms.

Symptoms common to all types of dissociative disorders include:

Dissociative identity disorder. This condition, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, is characterized by "switching" to alternate identities when you're under stress. In dissociative identity disorder, you may feel the presence of one or more other people talking or living inside your head. Each of these identities may have their own name, personal history and characteristics, including marked differences in manner, voice, gender and even such physical qualities as the need for corrective eyewear. There often is considerable variation in each alternate personality's familiarity with the others. People with dissociative identity disorder typically also have dissociative amnesia.

Depersonalization disorder. This disorder is characterized by a sudden sense of being outside yourself, observing your actions from a distance as though watching a movie. It may be accompanied by a perceived distortion of the size and shape of your body or of other people and objects around you. Time may seem to slow down, and the world may seem unreal. Symptoms may last only a few moments or may wax and wane over many years.

DDNOS. (Dissociative Disorder not otherwise specified), an earlier stage or less serious form of other disorders that often precedes DID.

Information on Treatment:
Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder typically includes the following components: a strong therapeutic relationship, a safe therapeutic environment, appropriate boundaries, development of no self- or other-harm contracts, an understanding of the personality structures, working through traumatic and dissociated material, the development of more mature psychological defences, and the integration of states of self.

Guidelines for treatment of adults and children are available from the International Society for the Study of Dissociation, www.isst-d.org . I am currently a member of both the ISSTD and European Society for trauma and dissociation (links below). I have also completed the Dissociative Disorder Psychotherapy Training Programme (DDPTP / Advanced -DDPTP) and am member of the ISSTD 'training faculty' for the DDPTP programme.

I have undertaken training in Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) as approved by EMDRIA (www.emdria.org ) which is indicated in the UK's National Institutute for Clinical excellance as an approach which may be useful in the treatment of PTSD.