They typically have a wide array of symptoms, often classified under different combinations of comorbidity, which can make assessment and treatment complicated and confusing for the therapist. Many patients have substantial problems with daily living and relationships, including serious intrapsychic conflicts and maladaptive coping strategies. Their suffering essentially relates to a terrifying and painful past that haunts them. Even when survivors attempt to hide their distress beneath a facade of normality—a common strategy—therapists often feel besieged by their many symptoms and serious pain. Small wonder that many survivors of chronic traumatization have seen several therapists with little if any gains, and that quite a few have been labeled as untreatable or resistant. In this book, three leading researchers and clinicians share what they have learned from treating and studying chronically traumatized individuals across more than 65 years of collective experience. Based on the theory of structural dissociation of the personality in combination with a Janetian psychology of action, the authors have developed a model of phase-oriented treatment that focuses on the identification and treatment of structural dissociation and related maladaptive mental and behavioral actions. The foundation of this approach is to support patients in learning more effective mental and behavioral actions that will enable them to become more adaptive in life and to resolve their structural dissociation. This principle implies an overall therapeutic goal of raising the integrative capacity, in order to cope with the demands of daily life and deal with the haunting remnants of the past, with the “unfinished business” of traumatic memories. Of interest to clinicians, students of clinical psychology and psychiatry, as well as to researchers, all those interested in adult survivors of chronic child abuse and neglect will find helpful insights and tools that may make the treatment more effective and efficient, and more tolerable for the suffering patient.
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Life is an ongoing struggle for patients who have been chronically traumatized.
PrefaceAcknowledgementsPart 1 Structural Dissociation of the PersonalityChapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Structural Dissociation of the Personality: Basics Chapter 3: Primary Structural Dissociation: Prototypes of the Apparently Normal and the Emotional Parts of the Personality Chapter 4: Secondary Structural Dissociation of the Personality Chapter 5: Tertiary Structural Dissociation of the Personality Chapter 6: Trauma-related Symptoms in Light of Structural Dissociation Chapter 7: Structural Dissociation and the Spectrum of Trauma-related Disorders Part II Chronic Traumatization and a Janetian Psychology of ActionIntroduction Part II: A Janetian Psychology of Action Chapter 8: Synthesis and Its Limitations in Trauma Survivors Chapter 9: Traumatization as a Syndrome of Nonrealization Chapter 10: The Hierarchy of Action Tendencies Chapter 11: Phobic Maintenance of Structural Dissociation Chapter 12: Assessment of the Traumatized Patient Chapter 13: Promoting Adaptive Action: General Treatment Principles Part III TreatmentChapter 14: Phase 1 Treatment and Beyond: Overcoming the Phobia of the Attachment and Attachment Loss with the Therapist Chapter 15: Phase 1 Treatment and Beyond: Overcoming the Phobia of Trauma-Derived Mental Actions Chapter 16 Phase 1 Treatment and Beyond: Overcoming the Phobia of Dissociative Parts Chapter 17: Phase 2 Treatment: Overcoming the Phobia of Traumatic MemoryChapter 18: Phase 3 Treatment: Integration of the Personality and Overcoming the Phobias of Normal Life EpilogueReferences
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"A powerful set of insights for clinicians, students of clinical psychology and psychiatry, and any involved in mental health issues."

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780393704013
Publisert
2006-11-28
Utgiver
Vendor
Ww Norton & Co
Vekt
757 gr
Høyde
244 mm
Bredde
165 mm
Dybde
38 mm
Aldersnivå
UP, P, 05, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
440

Biographical note

Onno van der Hart, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Psychopathology of Chronic Traumatization, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands, and a psychologist. Until 2017 he was also a psychotherapist in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. He is a Past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). Ellert R. S. Nijenhuis, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, and researcher. He is affiliated with Mental Health Care Drenthe, The Netherlands and collaborates with various Universities. He is a former director of the Executive Council of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD). Kathy Steele, MN, CS, is in private practice with Metropolitan Psychotherapy Associates in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a former President of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation.