A Systemic Approach to the Treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder

摘要

Although dissociative identity disorder (DID) continues to be questioned by some clinicians, those who work with this population understand the complexity of this disorder. Most often DID clients undergo predominantly individual psychotherapy to help them integrate their fragmented parts or personalities usually taking an average of 5 to 7 years. Although there is limited literature on the use of systemic therapy with DID clients, family therapy approaches can be used to conceptualize the treatment of the DID client and their family members. This article discusses how individual psychotherapy from a systemic perspective can be applied to treat DID while family systems therapy can be used to help educate the client's family about DID, the process of treatment, as well as how to recognize and become prepared for any symptoms of recurrence. The internal family systems model of therapy with a DID client is discussed through a case example.