Dissociation : Vol. 6, No.2/3, p. 145-161 : The initial stages of psychotherapy in the treatment of multiple personality disorder patients
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Date
1993-06
Authors
Kluft, Richard P., 1943-
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation
Abstract
The psychotherapeutic treatment of multiple personality disorder (MPD) places many burdens and demands upon a patient who is already beleaguered if not overwhelmed. Therefore it is useful if not essential to prepare the patient to manage the stresses that treatment may impose before beginning to deal with difficult material. The role of the first stages of the psychotherapy is to prepare a firm foundation for the more intense and draining work that will follow. The initial stages of establishing the psychotherapy and making preliminary interventions provide optimal opportunities to establish the therapeutic alliance, introduce the patient to techniques that will be essential components of the more difficult stages, clarify basic transferential patterns before they have become problematic, address anticipated problems regarding shame and secrecy, foresee likely causes of potential stalemates, and define and resolve problems in therapist-patient collaboration.
Description
p. 145-161