This accessible guidebook has been created to be used alongside the picture book, Our House: Making Sense of Dissociative Identity Disorder, as a broad introduction to childhood trauma and its legacies, with a focus on dissociation and DID. This clear and easy-to-read resource offers an insight into trauma, its continuing effects and the continuum of dissociation. Practical exercises and opportunities for reflective discussion are included throughout to encourage personal engagement either individually or through treatment. Written with clinical accuracy, warmth and compassion, it will expand the reader’s knowledge of DID and deepen the understanding, application and usefulness of the picture book. Key features include: Photocopiable and downloadable resources and activities designed to develop a richer and more personal understanding of the development of DID A page-by-page insight into images from the picture book Further reading suggestions and information about treatment and support for survivors, as well as for the family, friends and professionals who journey with them Bringing clarity to a complex issue, this is an invaluable resource for survivors of trauma and for those who support them, counsellors, psychologists, social care workers and other professionals, as well as family and friends.

This beautifully illustrated picture book and guidebook set offers a broad introduction to childhood trauma and its legacies, with a focus on dissociation and DID. Written with clinical accuracy, warmth and accessibility to individuals of all ages and backgrounds, it provides a non-threatening understanding of dissociation and DID that will empower survivors and educate the friends, family and professionals who want or need to learn more about the condition. The set includes: Our House: Making Sense of Dissociative Identity Disorder, a simple and accessible picture book that uses the metaphor of a house to explain how and why DID can develop. Additional guidance accompanies the story, explaining the metaphor in depth, offering advice regarding dissociative disorders, and signposting further help for both individuals and professionals. Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Guidebook for Survivors and Practitioners, provides practical exercises and opportunities for reflective discussion that will expand and deepen the understanding, application and usefulness of the picture book. This resource is accompanied by downloadable resources. This is an invaluable resource for survivors of trauma and for those who support them, counsellors, psychologists, social care workers and other professionals, as well as family and friends.

Our House tells the story of a child who has experienced something that children should never have to experience. It introduces the reader to the people who arrived to help them cope with the bad things, in the house that they all share. Accompanied by beautiful and gentle illustrations, the story takes a non-threatening approach to demystify dissociative identity disorder, using the metaphor of a house to explain what it is and how it develops. Our House can be read by individuals, or used as a treatment tool to stimulate discussion, and is suitable for all ages. It includes additional guidance which explains the metaphor in depth, as well as advice regarding dissociative disorders and signposts to further help for both individuals and professionals. Bringing clarity to a complex issue, this is an invaluable resource for survivors of trauma and for those who support them, counsellors, psychologists, social care workers and other professionals, as well as family and friends. An accompanying guidebook is also available, offering further information, resources and activities, and page-by-page insights into illustrations from the picture book. Both books can be purchased as a set.

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.

Building on the comprehensive theoretical model of dissociation elegantly developed in The Dissociative Mind, Elizabeth Howell makes another invaluable contribution to the clinical understanding of dissociative states with Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder. Howell, working within the realm of relational psychoanalysis, explicates a multifaceted approach to the treatment of this fascinating yet often misunderstood condition, which involves the partitioning of the personality into part-selves that remain unaware of one another, usually the result of severely traumatic experiences. Howell begins with an explication of dissociation theory and research that includes the dynamic unconscious, trauma theory, attachment, and neuroscience. She then discusses the identification and diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) before moving on to outline a phase-oriented treatment plan, which includes facilitating a multileveled co-constructed therapeutic relationship, emphasizing the multiplicity of transferences, countertransferences, and kinds of potential enactments. She then expands the treatment possibilities to include dreamwork, before moving on to discuss the risks involved in the treatment of DID and how to mitigate them. All concepts and technical approaches are permeated with rich clinical examples.

Have you ever had a daydream? If so, you’ve had a dissociative experience. The same is true if you’ve had an out-of-body moment or thought you were somewhere else as you drifted off to sleep. These are seemingly harmless and temporary dissociations. But further down the spectrum of such experiences, you find people actually traveling to a strange city and suddenly not remembering how they got there. You also find people with multiple personalities and other disordered thinking. In The Wandering Mind, Dr. John Biever and co-author Maryann Karinch use the stories of people all along the spectrum of dissociative conditions—from those who are “perfectly normal” to those diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder—to expose the natures and functions of dissociation. Their lives and stories serve as a way of exploring chronic dissociation and the trek back to good mental health. The authors look closely at what signs and symptoms indicate normal, everyday dissociation, and those that indicate a more serious problem. While daydreamers may not meet the criteria for diagnosis, trauma victims who relive their nightmares in real time may require both diagnosis and treatment. The authors also delve into the phenomenon of deliberate dissociation, such as Buddhist monks in meditation. And they take a close look at the process of diagnosing a dissociative disorder as well as factors that put patients on the road to reintegration and recovery.