Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders: Past, Present, Future

This second edition of the award-winning original text brings together in one volume the current thinking and conceptualizations on dissociation and the dissociative disorders. Comprised of ten parts, starting with historical and conceptual issues, and ending with considerations for the present and future, internationally renowned authors in the trauma and dissociation fields explore different facets of dissociation in pathological and non-clinical guises. This book is designed to be the most comprehensive reference book in the dissociation field and aims to provide a scholarly foundation for understanding dissociation, dissociative disorders, current issues and perspectives within the field, theoretical formulations, and empirical findings. Chapters have been thoroughly updated to include recent developments in the field, including: the complex nature of conceptualization, etiology, and neurobiology; the various manifestations of dissociation in clinical and non-clinical forms; and different perspectives on how dissociation should be understood.

This book is essential for clinicians, researchers, theoreticians, students of clinical psychology psychiatry, and psychotherapy, and those with an interest or curiosity in dissociation in the various ways it can be conceived and studied.

Martin J. Dorahy, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, and a past president of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

Steven N. Gold, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Nova Southeastern University; a past president and fellow of the ISSTD and APA Division of Trauma Psychology; and a founding editor of the APA journal, Psychological Trauma.

John A. O’Neil, MD, FRCPC, is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in Montreal, Québec, Canada, and a fellow of the ISSTD. He co-edited, with Paul Dell, the first edition of this book.