The Power and Role of Dissociation for Adolescent Girls
This class explores how dissociation serves as a survival mechanism for adolescent girls enduring severe sexual abuse from male family members. Through dissociation, these girls mentally escape into intricate imaginative worlds—such as magical realms, poetry, or sensory experiences—that allow them to survive the unspeakable. By examining actual case studies, clinicians will learn how dissociation functions as both a protective emotional response and a cognitive strategy—highlighting how dissociation fosters resilience and enables girls to function in their daily lives.
Clinicians will acquire skills to help survivors safely share their experiences of using dissociation positively to foster healing and recovery. Participants will learn specific interviewing techniques to create a secure therapeutic space, identifying dissociation as a coping strategy and applying this knowledge to treatment. Clinicians will better understand dissociation’s protective role in trauma recovery, enhancing their ability to support and guide survivors through their healing journey.
https://nefesh.org/workshops/Resiliencein/viewFREE WEBINAR
Resilience in the Face of Sexual Abuse:
The Power and Role of Dissociation for Adolescent Girls
Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 6:00 PM EST
Presenter: Patti Feuereisen Ph.D.
Course Length: 3 Hours
Learning Objectives:
- Identify and explain the cognitive, emotional, and sensory components of dissociation as a survival strategy based on real-life case studies and published clinical research.
- Describe trauma-sensitive interviewing techniques that facilitate the safe disclosure of dissociative experiences.
- Develop a brief sample treatment plan that incorporates incorporates knowledge of dissociation as a positive coping mechanism and its protective role in resilience and recovery.
This class explores how dissociation serves as a survival mechanism for adolescent girls enduring severe sexual abuse from male family members. Through dissociation, these girls mentally escape into intricate imaginative worlds—such as magical realms, poetry, or sensory experiences—that allow them to survive the unspeakable. By examining actual case studies, clinicians will learn how dissociation functions as both a protective emotional response and a cognitive strategy—highlighting how dissociation fosters resilience and enables girls to function in their daily lives.
Clinicians will acquire skills to help survivors safely share their experiences of using dissociation positively to foster healing and recovery. Participants will learn specific interviewing techniques to create a secure therapeutic space, identifying dissociation as a coping strategy and applying this knowledge to treatment. Clinicians will better understand dissociation’s protective role in trauma recovery, enhancing their ability to support and guide survivors through their healing journey.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify and explain the cognitive, emotional, and sensory components of dissociation as a survival strategy based on real-life case studies and published clinical research.
- Describe trauma-sensitive interviewing techniques that facilitate the safe disclosure of dissociative experiences.
- Develop a brief sample treatment plan that incorporates incorporates knowledge of dissociation as a positive coping mechanism and its protective role in resilience and recovery.
Agenda:
- Greetings/Introduction (10 minutes)
- Overview of research (20 minutes)
- Prevalence and associated outcomes of sexual abuse: focus on incest and the adolescent girl
- Dissociation in sexual abuse: traditional and non-traditional views
- Challenges in the client-therapist relationship: safety and trust
- The clinical experience (40 minutes)
- Case studies of dissociation: detailed descriptions of the intricate ulterior worlds that girls build during molestation, from magical conquests, to sounds and scents, to composing poetry to withstand the event
- Break (10 minutes)
- Open Discussion Questions and Answers (20 minutes)
- Interviewing techniques (25 minutes)
- Best practices for helping survivors feel safe and empowered when discussing their dissociative experiences: specific interviewing techniques to create a secure therapeutic space, identifying dissociation as a coping strategy
- Scenarios and short role play with feedback from presenter
- Integrating into the treatment plan (35 minutes)
- Using the SOAP method, with a focus on Plan to outline goals and exercises which acknowledge dissociation as a coping mechanism
- Practice writing Plan section with group sharing and feedback from presenter
- Key Take-Aways and Q&A (20 minutes)
- Using the SOAP method, with a focus on Plan to outline goals and exercises which acknowledge dissociation as a coping mechanism
- Best practices for helping survivors feel safe and empowered when discussing their dissociative experiences: specific interviewing techniques to create a secure therapeutic space, identifying dissociation as a coping strategy
This presentation is open to:
- Social Workers
- Professional Counselors
- Therapists
- Psychologists
- Licensed Mental Health Practitioners
- Medical Doctors and Other Health Professionals
- Other professionals interacting with populations engaged in mental health based services
- New practitioners who wish to gain enhanced insight surrounding the topic
- Experienced practitioners who seek to increase and expand fundamental knowledge surrounding the subject matter
- Advanced practitioners seeking to review concepts and reinforce practice skills and/or access additional consultation
- Managers seeking to broaden micro and/or macro perspectives