About this course
Although Pierre Janet coined the term “dissociation” in the late 19th century, identifying dissociative symptoms and diagnosing dissociative disorders remains controversial. This presentation will take participants through the complicated history of dissociation, from its identification and near-abandonment by early psychologists, through sensationalized portrayals in movies and books, into the challenges of the “repressed memory” movement in the 1990’s, and arriving at today’s dismissal of the disorder as “diagnosis by TikTok.” Once we understand the history of the concept of dissociation, we will look critically at the established narratives surrounding it: that it is a form of daydreaming, that people are faking it for attention, and that it is rare and untreatable. Finally, we will look at screening tools, assessment questions, and other methods for clinicians to separate real dissociation from possible imitation.
