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ForwardNew Insights Into Clinical and Neural Measures in Dissociative Identity Disorder
Abstract
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is one of the most severe trauma-related and dissociative disorders, characterized by, among others, the recurrent presentation of different dissociative identity states (Reinders & Veltman, 2021). These states are frequently referred to as trauma-avoidant identity state (TAIS) and trauma-related identity state (TRIS) (Dimitrova et al., 2024). This symposium will present the latest findings of the self-relevance study, which has been conducted as part of the Dutch Neuroimaging Dissociative Identity Disorder project and publications can be found at www.neuroimaging-DID.com. Apart from individuals diagnosed with DID, several control groups and conditions were included, such as actors simulating the TAIS and TRIS of DID, and a carefully paired control group consisting of healthy participants to represent the TAIS and of individuals with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to represent the TRIS. The participants attended the research facilities twice. First, they rated words with respect to valence and self-relevance in their two dissociative identity states. Approximately 6 weeks later, the brain imaging study was conducted, involving only the highest rated identity-state dependent and self-relevant words.
Potential to Distress: No
Target Audience
Intermediate
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to:
- Identify the importance of careful study design when studying inter-identity amnesia in individuals with dissociative identity disorder
- Describe the key findings of inter-identity amnesia in dissociative identity disorder research over the past decade
- Explain why “inter-identity avoidance” of trauma-related knowledge is likely a better definition than “inter-identity amnesia”
- Assess the differences in behavioral and neural processing between dissociative identity states and consciousness levels
- Discuss the clinical, cognitive and creativity measure scores and the cultural differences in dissociative identity disorder
A.A.T. Simone Reinders, PhD
Dr Reinders is a honorary Senior Research Associate with Lecturer status at the Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London (KCL). Dr Reinders is a leader in the field of the neurocorrelates of pathological dissociation, having received multiple awards from the ISSTD for her work in this area, including a Mid Career Achievement Award in 2021. She is considered an international expert in the neurobiology of pathological dissociation as evidenced by invitations to deliver plenaries at international conferences.
As part of her PhD Dr Reinders has worked on the frontiers of psychiatry and was among the first to publish on brain imaging in pathological dissociation. Her research was the first to show, on the basis of brain activation data, that different personality states in patients with dissociative identity disorder (DID) show different brain activation patterns in response to listening to trauma-related autobiographical texts. In a recent publication Dr Reinders showed how brain imaging can aid the diagnosis of DID using machine learning algorithms. This paper was awarded the 2020 Pierre Janet Writing Award of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), which is given to an individual for the best clinical, theoretical or research paper in the field of dissociation and/or trauma within the past year. This award follows other awards such as the Morton Prince Award for Scientific Achievement (2017) of the ISSTD given for outstanding cumulative contributions to research in the area of dissociative disorders.
Aikaterini I. Strouza, GMBPsS, MSc
Aikaterini (Katerina) Strouza is a PhD candidate at the Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC, Location Vumc Amsterdam. Katerina graduated with Distinction from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London (KCL) with a Master of Science degree in Mental Health Studies. Dr A.A.T. Simone Reinders supervised Katerina’s master’s thesis titled “A longitudinal study of personality state dependent self-relevance ratings in dissociative identity disorder”, which earned a Distinction. Since then, she has been conducting research on dissociative identity disorder as a member of Dr Reinders’ team. The research for her PhD involves the investigation of self-relevance processing. One study investigates the longitudinal aspects of self-relevance processing and another study investigates the behavioral and neural correlates of overt and covert self-relevance information processing. Katerina is a member of various international societies and associations, and has previously submitted scientific articles and posters in international conferences. Apart from her research activities, Katerina also has clinical experience in adult and child populations, in various settings based in Greece and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, her educational background also includes postgraduate certificates on clinical psychopathology and child psychology, as well as training courses on various therapeutic treatments and techniques.
Lora I. Dimitrova, MSc
Lora Dimitrova is a PhD student affiliated with both King’s College London (UK) and the VU University Amsterdam (NL). Lora completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Kingston University with a distinction. She completed her master’s in Mental Health Studies at King’s College London under the supervision of Dr A. A. T. S. Reinders and received a distinction as well. She is currently also working as a research assistant at the Clinic for Dissociative Studies (CDS-UK) alongside her PhD. For her thesis she is interested in the aetiology of dissociative identity disorder and in the neurofunctional and neurostructural biomarkers of pathological dissociation and traumatization. Some notable publications include “A neurostructural biomarker of dissociative amnesia: a hippocampal study in Dissociative Identity Disorder” and “Sleep, trauma, fantasy and cognition in dissociative identity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and healthy controls: a replication and extension study”. The most recent research studies inter-identity amnesia in DID using behavioral and neurobiological data.
Available Credit
- 1.50 APAThe International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
- 1.50 ASWB ACEThe International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), #1744, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 08/20/2024 – 08/20/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1.50 continuing education credits.
- 1.50 ISSTD Certificate ProgramThis program is eligible for 1.50 credits in the ISSTD Certificate Program. No certificate of completion is generated for this type of credit.
Price
Early registration ends September 30, 2024 at 5:00 PM US Eastern Time. Prices will increase for emerging professional and professional/retired rates at that time by $50.
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Available Discounts
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Cancellation Policy
Cancellations must be received in writing via email or fax. A processing fee of $45 will be charged for cancellations received on or before Friday, October 25, 2024 at 5:00 PM ET. No refunds will be issued for no-shows. Refund requests will not be accepted after October 25, 2024. Not all requests will be granted. Substitutions for attendees are accepted until November 1, 2024.
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ISSTD is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformation with the APA and ASWB grievance procedures.
During this conference, conference organizers, presenters and staff will address any concerns that arise. Every effort will be made to address the concerns during the conference when possible. If these individuals are unable to address the participant’s concerns, the complaints and grievances shall be presented in writing to ISSTD Headquarters at [email protected]. These will be forwarded on for review by the Virtual and Regional Conference Committee.
Social Workers: Should social workers have a specific grievance, these grievances will be addressed by D. Michael Coy, LICSW. In situations where the social worker would have a conflict of interest, then, Christine Forner, MSW will review the grievance.
ISSTD strives to resolve grievances in a manner that is in the best interest of the participant. All complaints and grievances are reviewed within 5 working days. Formal grievances are required to be written and emailed as directed above and will be responded to within 15 business days.
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We would be happy to accommodate your ADA needs. Please contact ISSTD Headquarters via email at [email protected] or via phone at 844.994.7783 for assistance.
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