63rd Annual Conference

Thursday, February 23

Afternoon Workshops

2:45-6:00 P.M.

Workshop 28

Falling Forever: Covert Dissociation in Non-Abused Patients

Chair:   

Kathleen Adams, Ph.D., Private Practice, Austin, Texas

Chronic shock stemming from uncontained distress and failed dependency during childhood can persist as sub-clinical encapsulations and subtle DDNOS, mimicking character distortion and contribute to impasse.  Autistic defenses provide psychic skin to ward off fears of breakdown.  This workshop integrates across six professional domains and presents a new theoretical perspective.  Detailed clinical material from one psychodynamic group involving impasse resolution and five DDNOS patients presents growth trajectories of the group and its members.

didactic-sharing of work experiences-experiential-demonstration

Learning Objectives:

The attendee will be able to:

1. Revise their method of character analysis to incorporate dissociative character/terror of intimacy.

2. Integrate material from interpersonal neurobiology, traumatology, attachment theory, post-Kleinian theory, and group analysis.

3. Detect sub-clinical dissociation in their own group patients.

4. Distinguish between florid and subtle dissociative processes.

5. Create a better working alliance with dissociative patients.

Course References:

1. Liotti, G. (2004). Trauma, Dissociation and Disorganized Attachment: Three strands of a single braid. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice and Training,14 (4), pp. 472-486.

2. Mitrani, J. (2001).  Ordinary People and Extra-ordinary Protections: A post-Kleinian approach to the treatment of primitive mental states. Pennsylvania: Taylor and Francis.

3. Stern, D. (2004). The Present Moment in Psychothrapy and Everyday Life. New York: Norton and Company.