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Dissociation, Dissociative Disorder, and Their Treatment

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Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan

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Abstract

Dissociation is the label for a complex set of symptoms related to trauma, but likely to have other nontraumatic causes. DSM-5 diagnoses with a dominant symptom of trauma include the dissociative disorders and the dissociative subtype of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD-D). This chapter reviews the key definitions and models of dissociation, the symptoms that are typically included under the broader rubric of dissociation, measures of the dissociative symptom and the dissociative disorders, challenges in the diagnosis of the dissociation-related diagnoses, and methods of treatment that have thus far received empirical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Trauma Research Institute, Alliant International University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Constance Dalenberg, Brandi Naish & Ana Abu-Rus

Authors
  1. Constance Dalenberg
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  2. Brandi Naish
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  3. Ana Abu-Rus
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Correspondence to Constance Dalenberg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma, San Diego, CA, USA

    Robert Geffner

  2. Department of Psychology College of Arts and Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Jacquelyn W. White

  3. Department of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    L. Kevin Hamberger

  4. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Alan Rosenbaum

  5. Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Viola Vaughan-Eden

  6. Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Victor I. Vieth

Section Editor information

  1. Consultant and Trainer, Trauma Psychology and Treatment, Bethany Beach, Delaware, USA

    Christine A. Courtois

  2. Department of Counseling and Human Development, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Sylvia A Marotta-Walters PhD

  3. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Carlos A. Cuevas

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Dalenberg, C., Naish, B., Abu-Rus, A. (2022). Dissociation, Dissociative Disorder, and Their Treatment. In: Geffner, R., White, J.W., Hamberger, L.K., Rosenbaum, A., Vaughan-Eden, V., Vieth, V.I. (eds) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89999-2_177

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