30th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation
"Eek, There’s Dissociation in My Office!": The Art of Mentoring Therapists in Working With Dissociation
with laura Brown, Phd
This presentation is aimed at two groups of people; supervisors and consultants working with other therapists, and therapists new to work with dissociative phenomena, particularly DID. For supervisors and consultants, we will discuss what is needed in order to create a holding environment for the therapist/client dyad in a manner that respects that therapist's competencies while not underestimating the countertransferences evoked by one's first client with DID. For therapists new to work with DID, we will cover basic constructs of treatment, demonstrating how work with people with DID is not alien to one's existing competencies, but rather an integration of principles of trauma treatment into existing modalities. We will discuss some of the most common issues and impasses in working with dissociation brought to supervision and consultation by therapists relatively new to the field.