title: Dissociative Reality and Dissociative Being in Therapy for Post traumatic Patients.
abstract: Post traumatic patients experience a wide range of symptoms, some of them existential in nature which we term "dissociative being." Many varied psychotherapeutic approaches are available for the treatment of post traumatic patients. Nevertheless, in view of this disorder's complexity, therapists face shortcomings when employing each of these therapeutic interventions. In order to understand this, we posit the principle we call "dissociative reality" for the treatment of trauma survivors. Our proposed method "speaks the patient's own language," harnessing dissociative elements to help individuals recall, re-enact and integrate traumatic experiences, where words are insufficient, while still upholding reality. We believe that this may be seen as an effective part of the therapeutic dialogue, and suggest that therapists may consider supplementing this approach in their treatment "toolkit" for patients with post traumatic stress and other trauma related disorders, irrespective of their declared therapeutic approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Achva Academic College, Israel Beersheva Mental Health Center, Beersheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guez
authors.affiliation: Beersheva Mental Health Center, Beersheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Mali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hertzanu-Lati
authors.affiliation: Department of Art Therapy, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lev-Wiesel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Soroka University Medical Center and Division of Psychiatry, Faculty for Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rabin
mesh_terms: D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*