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The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic Traumatization

Editor : Onno Van Der Hart, Editor : Kathy Steele, Editor : Ellert R.S. Nijenhuis

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Life is an ongoing struggle for patients who have been chronically traumatized. 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.

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.

Authors Biographies:

Onno van der Hart, PhD., is Professor of Psychopathology of Chronic Traumatization, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands, and a psychologist/psychotherapist at the Sinai Center for Mental Health, Amsterdam, 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 Clinical Director of Metropolitan Counseling Services, a training and low cost psychotherapy center, and is in private practice with Metropolitan Psychotherapy Associates in Atlanta, Georgia. She serves on the Board of the International Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress, and is a former member of the Executive Council of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation.