International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis - E-Lib FK UWKS

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International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis. Edited by G. D. Burrows, R. O. Stanley, P. B. Bloom
Copyright # 2001 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBNs: 0-471-97009-3 Hardback); 0-470-84640-2 Electronic)
Dissociative Disorders
RICHARD P. KLUFT
Temple University, PA, USA
TRADITIONAL ROLES OF HYPNOSIS WITH DISSOCIATIVE
DISORDERS
Until fairly recently, hypnosis had been recommended rather unequivocally for use
in the treatment of the dissociative disorders. The clear parallel between wellknown
hypnotic phenomena and the naturalistically-occurring phenomenology of
the dissociative disorders see Braun, 1983; Bliss, 1986); the argument that many
manifestations of the dissociative disorders were the result of the unwitting abuse
of autohypnosis Breuer & Freud, 1955; Bliss, 1986); and the clear demonstrations
that hypnotic interventions were therapeutically useful in work with amnesia and
with dissociative identity disorder from its ®rst successful treatment [Despine,
1840]; numerous reports of the success of hypnosis in combat-related amnestic
syndromes; and use of hypnosis with the ®rst series of successfully treated
dissociative identity disorder patients followed over time in the modern era [Kluft,
1982, 1984, 1986a, 1993a]) were among the arguments advanced in favor of
utilizing hypnosis with this group of patients.
In the DSM-IV American Psychiatric Association, 1994), the dissociative
disorders consist of depersonalization disorder, dissociative amnesia, dissociative
fugue, dissociative identity disorder, and dissociative disorder not otherwise
speci®ed. Dissociative trance disorder, currently classi®ed as a form of dissociative
disorder not otherwise speci®ed, is an additional classi®cation being studied for
possible inclusion in future diagnostic manuals. It consists of either an apparent
withdrawal into a trancelike state, or an episode of possession trance in which the
customary sense of personal identity is replaced by a new identity. Currently these
are classi®ed as subtypes of dissociative disorder not otherwise speci®ed.
In depersonalization disorder, hypnosis can play a role in reconnecting the
af¯icted individual with his/her body and/or his/her feelings. In dissociative
amnesia, hypnosis traditionally has been used to retrieve memories for the period
for which there is an absence of memory. In dissociative fugue, hypnosis can be
utilized to access missing periods of time, and to attempt to contact an alternate
identity should one be present. Such efforts frequently are only partially successful.
International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis. Edited by G. D. Burrows, R. O. Stanley and P. B. Bloom
# 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd