Clinical Topics & Methods Category

Dissociation 101: A Comprehensive Exploration Into the Field of Dissociation and Complex Trauma

6 CE Hours
55 members have taken this course
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About the Course

For many who first enter the field of dissociation and trauma, there is often not a great deal of information that describes the theoretical foundations and history of the dissociative field. This workshop is intended for students, emerging professionals and experienced practitioners who are interested in learning about the fundamentals of dissociation as a distinct response to trauma. The premise of this workshop is to cover essential information regarding dissociation and the dissociative disorders field. This course will cover 1) theories of trauma and dissociation, 2) the history of the dissociative field, including theories and treatment recommendations from the 1800's, through to the eighties, nineties and today, 3) The impact of the false memory "war", 4) finer details of current dissociative models (covering various theoretical foundations, e.g. Structural dissociation, dissociative symptoms/phenomena (the DSM), dissociative defenses 5) rate and prevalence 6) a breakdown of the dissociative disorders, 7) neurobiology of trauma and dissociation, 8) assessment and evaluation, and 9) current treatments. The goal of the workshop is to equip those who attend with enough information to take into their scholarly or new professional practices as well as have a solid foundation for the rest of the conference.

This course is based on the recorded webinar, Dissociation 101: A Comprehensive Exploration Into the Field of Dissociation and Complex Trauma created by Christine Forner, BA, BSW, MSW, RSW et al in 2018.

Publication Details

Publication Date: September, 2018

Course Material Authors

Course Material Authors authored the material only, and were not involved in creating this CE course. They are identified here for your own evaluation of the relevancy of the material this course is based on.

Christine Forner, BA, BSW, MSW, RSW

Christine Forner (B.A., B.S.W., M.S.W., Registered Social Worker) Began her career early working at The Calgary Sexual Assault Centre, and Wheatland Crisis Shelter for survivors of domestic violence. In 1998 Christine started her clinical experience at The Calgary Women’s Health Collective. Since 2011, Christine has worked in her own private practice, which specializes in complex trauma and dissociative disorders. Christine has over twenty years of working with individuals with Trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, Traumatic Dissociation, Developmental Trauma and Dissociative Disorders, with specialized training in EMDR, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Psychotherapeutic Meditation techniques, Neurofeedback and Havening. Christine teaches locally and at an international level on the issue of dissociation, complex trauma, and the intersection of dissociation and mindfulness . Christine is the founder of the Creative Meditation technique and Medial Prefrontal Cortex Processing for Trauma and Dissociation. Christine is the current incoming president for the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. Christine has also served on the board of the ISSTD since 2010 and was the ISSTD treasurer from 2011-2017. As well as being a board member she is also the Chair of the Student and Emerging Professional Committee and a member of the Conference Committee and for the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. She is the author of Dissociation, Mindfulness and Creative Meditations: Trauma informed practices to facilitate growth (Routledge, 2017).

Dr Mary-Anne Kate, PhD

Dr Mary-Anne Kate is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of New England, Australia. Her doctoral research examined how childhood maltreatment and negative parent-child dynamics, including an insecure attachment, lead to dissociation and dissociative disorders in adulthood. Mary-Anne is a member of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation’s Scientific Committee and is the lead author of the Dissociative disorders and somatic symptom-related disorders chapter in Kring’s Abnormal Psychology textbook. Her professional background is in the development of national and European Union policies and practices to improve quality of life outcomes, including mental health, for refugees and other minority groups. Mary-Anne was recently awarded her PhD alongside the Chancellor's Medal in recognition of the exceptional merit of her research.

Course Creator

ISSTD Staff

These questions were created by staff and volunteers at ISSTD.

Target Audience

Counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists and social workers. This course is appropriate for intermediate levels of knowledge.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Discuss the importance of a solid theoretical foundation regarding dissociative experiences.
  2. 2 Discuss the importance of understanding the historical back ground of the dissociative field in working with this population in the greater mental health fields
  3. 3 Discuss whether a client is dealing with Faculty Dissociation (un-integrated psychological symptoms) or Multiplicity (more than one center of consciousness), or a combination of both and in turn evaluate their own skills and know whether it is ethical to work with the client or refer them elsewhere.
  4. 4 Obtain neurobiolgical information to assist with their clinical and educational experiences
  5. 5 Distinguish between complex trauma, post traumatic stress disorders and dissociative disorders
  6. 6 Describe the dissociative process in order to assist their confidence in working with complex clinical populations

Disclosure to Learners

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Material Authors

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Course Creator

ISSTD Staff – There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

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Dissociation 101 - Recorded Webinar

This recorded webinar is 6 hours, 1 minute in length.

This material is available to purchase for $149.00.

This course material is published by ISSTD. For your convenience, has partnered with ISSTD to make it available for purchase right here.

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Dissociation 101 - Recorded Webinar

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