Dissociation : Vol. 1, No. 2 (June 1988)

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Dissociation : Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 034-038 : Some Aspects Of Resistence In The Treatment Of Multiple Personality Disorder
(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality & Dissociation, 1988-06) Chu, James A.
Therapists who treat patients with Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) commonly experience discomfort and frustration. This paper contends that the most significant cause of therapist discomfort is the particular resistances encountered in the treatment of MPD. In- MPD, etiologic childhood traumatic experiences are defensively repressed and dissociated. In addition, the normal ability to engage in trusting interpersonal relationships is disrupted. Thus, a psychotherapy which requires the retrieval of past traumas in the context of an interpersonal therapeutic relationship is tremendously threatening to the patient with MPD. In the normal course of the psychotherapy of MPD, intense resistances are encountered at every stage. This paper outlines the nature of resistance in the treatment of patients with MID, presents a number of clinical examples, and discusses the importance of understanding and working with resistance as an intrinsic part of the treatment.