Geared to the needs of mental health practitioners unfamiliar with dissociative disorders, this volume presents a comprehensive and integrated approach to diagnosis and treatment. Each step--from first interview to final post-integrative treatment--is systematically reviewed, with detailed instructions on specific diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and examples of their clinical applications. Concise yet thorough, the volume offers expert advice on such topics as how to foster a strong therapeutic alliance, how to manage crises, and what basic errors to avoid.

This account of multiple personality disorder (MPD) and related dissociative disorders presents the latest findings leading to a new model of MPD and a new therapeutic approach to its treatment. The book examines the large cluster of symptoms and dysfunctions associated with MPD, focusing on diagnosis, clinical features, and the relationship of MPD to other diagnoses. Data and clinical evidence are presented for a widely-accepted, but as yet unproven hypothesis that MPD arises as a dissociative strategy for coping with severe childhood trauma, usually involving physical or sexual abuse.

Do people with multiple personalities have more than one self? The first full-length philosophical study of multiple personality disorder, First Person Plural maintains that even the deeply divided multiple personality contains an underlying psychological unity. Braude updates his work in this revised edition to discuss recent empirical and conceptual developments, including the charge that clinicians induce false memories in their patients, and the professional redefinition of "multiple personality disorder" as "dissociative identity disorder."

Books about Multiple Personality Disorder have usually been written by mental health professionals as texts or case studies. Now, in Becoming One, author Sarah Olson has allowed us the rare privilege of entering her internal world as she journeys from fragmentation to wholeness.Two little girls, the author and her sister, were routinely terrorized and assaulted over a period of years by a family friend. One grew up closed and withdrawn, the other angry and self-destructive. And, most painful of all, their common suffering resulted in estrangement from each other. Becoming One began as Olson's attempt to provide a written account of her memories for her sister as a possible means of reconciliation and family healing.Olson argues that Multiple Personality Disorder (recently re-christened Dissociative Identity Disorder), rather than being a form of insanity as is popularly believed, is actually a brilliant coping mechanism relied upon in the most desperate of circumstances. It is nearly universally associated with severe trauma suffered by very young children and reveals a highly creative, terrified young mind doing whatever needs to be done to survive in an untenable world. The author's courage and generosity in candidly sharing her remarkable experiences afford an invaluable understanding of the effects of severe childhood abuse, and provides important insights into the world of dissociation.Through selected journal writings, letters, and transcripts of recorded therapy sessions, she highlights the role psychotherapy played in her recovery. Here is at once a highly personal look into an individual life, the dynamics of a troubled family, and the healing power of the therapeuticprocess.

Multiple personality syndrome is being diagnosed and treated in the United States in ever increasing numbers. Indeed, it is alleged that the incidence of this bizarre and striking disorder has reached epidemic proportions. Clinician/researchers report each seeing individually more than 100 patients whose minds have split into as many as 60 alter egos. Their case histories are typified by sexual and physical abuse in childhood and some have reached notoriety; in films, like Eve and Sybil and in criminal records, like Bianchi, 'the Hillside Strangler'. But does 'multiple personality' exist? This monograph takes as its point of departure the virtual absence of such patients anywhere except the U.S.A. and even then it is a relatively small number of psychologists and psychiatrists who report the overwhelming majority of cases. The book provides the first comprehensive review of the burgeoning literature from the beginning of the century to the present and covers more than 300 articles and books. It should prove of interest to psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists and social workers and is an invaluable reference for students on courses in clinical and abnormal psychology as well as to practising clinicians and social workers. Following an introduction to a selection of the more notable cases, a number of critical issues are examined in ensuing chapters. These are devoted to problems of definition and differential diagnosis; aetiology; psychophysiological, psychometric and experimental studies; attempts at theoretical explanation and the relationship between MPS, hypnosis and dissociation. The author, a practising clinical psychologist and lecturer in psychopathology, gradually develops the hypothesis that MPS is best explained under the rubric of social role theory. It is argued that MPS is a culture-bound variant of hysterical psychosis occurring in individuals with high 'hypnotisability'. The tentative conclusion is that even if one accepts the reality of MPS it is unhelpful to regard it as a discrete clinical entity, and it is being grossly overdiagnosed.

This book covers the multiple personality disorder.

Multiple Personality by Boris Sidis is a pioneering work that delves into the phenomenon of dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder). Sidis provides a comprehensive examination of the condition, exploring its causes, symptoms, and treatment approaches, drawing from his extensive clinical experience. Key Points: Sidis offers a detailed exploration of dissociative identity disorder, providing insights into the psychological, neurological, and environmental factors that contribute to the development of multiple personalities within an individual. The book presents case studies and clinical observations to illustrate the complex nature of the disorder, shedding light on the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with dissociative identity disorder, as well as the impact on their lives and relationships. Multiple Personality contributes to the understanding of dissociative identity disorder, providing a foundation for further research and clinical advancements, and offering valuable information for mental health professionals, researchers, and individuals seeking to comprehend this intriguing psychological phenomenon.

Since the time of Mesmer, in the late eighteenth century, spectacular feats of hypnosis have been documented by respected scientific researchers, yet hypnosis has remained divorced from the main body of science. In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Eugene Bliss shows that the hypnotic capability of the mind is important to the theory and practice of psychiatry, and suggests that it deserves much more attention and research. In Multiple Personality, Allied Disorders and Hypnosis, Bliss explores both the nature of multiple personality and hypnosis, and discusses how an understanding of the latter can provide insight into the nature of certain psychiatric disorders. For instance, he views multiple personality as a form of self-hypnosis, an instance of learned schizophrenia rather than an organic disorder, as is generally thought. He outlines the trace elements involved in multiple personality and other psychiatric disorders, provides a fascinating history of the origins and current ideas about hypnosis, and gives a detailed account of the use of hypnosis in the treatment of multiple personality. Based on thirty years of clinical experience, and filled with insightful personal observations, Multiple Personality, Allied Disorders and Hypnosis is an informative, fascinating book for psychiatrists, psychologists, and anyone intrigued by hypnosis and its possible beneficial use.