Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder

Seasoned mental health practitioners unfamiliar with dissociative disorders have long lacked a basic yet authoritative text to turn to for guidance. Now Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorders meets this need, establishing a comprehensive and integrated approach to this complex psychotherapeutic process. Each step--from first interview to crisis management to final post-integrative treatment--is systematically reviewed, with detailed instructions on specific diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and examples of their clinical applications. Complete in its approach and extensively referenced, this volume is an invaluable resource for professionals as well as those in training. Opening chapters develop a thorough clinical profile of MPD patients and map out an overall diagnostic strategy, covering history-taking, interview interactions, and atypical presentations. A careful exposition of the structure and function of the alter personality system yields considerable insight into the distinct roles of alter personalities, and shows the way to fostering beneficial therapeutic alliances. Following an overview of the treatment process and its underlying principles, there are in-depth discussions on initial intervention and stabilization; appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques--including hypnosis, cross-inventorying, and dream work; and such adjunctive therapies as psychopharmacology and family, group, and video therapy. Of special note: Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorders features one of the most extensive discussions on the principles and techniques of therapeutic abreaction in the current literature.