For Therapists
We need more therapists who are willing and able to treat clients with dissociative disorders. Here are some resources for therapists who are interested. I also lead a group that shares resources about DID therapy. Email me for more info.
Dissociative Disorders, such as dissociative identity disorder (DID), are much more prevalent than commonly thought. In fact, according to the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), 1-3% of the population meets criteria for DID. The DSM-5 shows that DID is more prevalent than schizophrenia, yet mental health providers are often less familiar with how to identify and treat DID than they are with other diagnoses. Because I specialize in treating DID, my caseload is often full, as clients tell me of their great difficulty finding therapists who treat this. There is clearly a need for more mental health providers to be informed about how to help this underserved and often misunderstood/misdiagnosed population. While 90% of therapy for clients with DID is no different from therapy for other clients, it can still be quite challenging for therapists to know where to start in working with DID. I have provided some resources below to hopefully help point you in the right direction.
DID Resources
The ISSTD's Guidelines for Treating DID in Adults is a useful resource for learning best-practices with this population.
The ISSTD Center for Advanced Studies has excellent training opportunities including brief webinars and more extensive trainings, such as their professional training certificate program, which I completed.
The book Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists by Suzette Boon, Kathy Steele, and Onno van der Hart is a valuable resource, especially for clients (and therapists alike) who are new to understanding and coping with DID. I read portions of this with my clients during sessions, and we discuss how it relates to them. It provides great psychoeducation as well as practical skills to use. I've seen eBooks sold on various websites for discounted prices.
The book Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder by Frank W. Putnam is a classic book for treating what is now known as DID (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder). Though some terminology has changed since its writing, this book is still seen as foundational book in this area. It's a relatively short read, and because of it's age, used copies can be affordably purchased online through various website.
The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES; 28 question screener) and Multidimensional Inventory of Dissociation (MID; 218 question tool that gives diagnostic impressions) are helpful tools for assessing for dissociation/dissociative disorders and are available for free online.
The System Speak Podcast is an excellent resource for learning what it is like to live with DID (as the creator of the podcast is a therapist with DID) and for learning cutting-edge research and treatment approaches for DID.
The book Healing the Fractured Child: Diagnosis and Treatment of Youth With Dissociation by Frances S. Waters provides valuable information for treating children and adolescents.
Consultation: You can also contact the course faculty of the ISSTD's professional training program for help finding a therapist who is knowledgeable and experienced in working with DID to provide you individual consultation. The cost for an hour of consultation is typically similar to that of an hour of therapy.
A note about EMDR and DID: According to the ISSTD's Guidelines for Treating DID in Adults (referenced above), "...early use of standard EMDR for patients with unrecognized DID resulted in serious clinical problems, including unintended breaches of dissociative barriers, flooding, abrupt emergence of undiagnosed alternate identities, and rapid destabilization." It's importance for clients to be screened for dissociation (such as with the DES) prior to using EMDR. EMDR needs to be modified in order to be appropriate for those with a dissociative disorder (see the training Overview of Established Modifications of EMDR Therapy for Dissociative Disorders for more information).