Session One - Models of Dissociation in Children

February 26, 2025

Session Description
Symptom manifestations of complex trauma and dissociation in children and adolescents differ from those in adult populations in that they occur within the context of development and may mimic other challenges and conditions. Contemporary literature on this subject is slow growing, despite a widely known recognition that suffering starts in childhood, has a deleterious impact on development, and may be part of a larger intergenerational history of traumatization. Through a presentation of different developmental and attachment related theories and relevant neurobiology, this class will provide a frame for how we may understand the emergence of complex trauma symptomatology and dissociative features and conditions in childhood.

Readings

  1. Silberg, J. (2021). An Integrative Developmental Model of Dissociation. In The Child Survivor: Healing Developmental Trauma and Dissociation (pp. 21-39). Routledge.
  2. Liotti, G. (2022). Infant Attachment and Dissociative Psychopathology: An Approach Based on The Evolutionary Theory of Multiple Motivational Systems.  In V. Sinason & R. Potgieter Marks (Eds.), Treating Children with Dissociative Disorders: Attachment, Trauma, Theory and Practice (pp. 10-26). Routledge.
  3. Moore, M. S. (2022). Importance of Attachment in the Presence of a Perceived Threat. In V. Sinason & R. Potgieter Marks (Eds.), Treating Children with Dissociative Disorders: Attachment, Trauma, Theory and Practice (pp. 27-33). Routledge.
  4. Waters, F. (2022). Star Theoretical Model: An Integrative Model for Assessing and Treating Childhood Dissociation. In V. Sinason & R. Potgieter Marks (Eds.), Treating Children with Dissociative Disorders: Attachment, Trauma, Theory and Practice (pp. 73–98). Routledge.
  5. Spinazzola, J., Kolk, B., & Ford, J. D. (2021). Developmental Trauma Disorder: A Legacy of Attachment Trauma in Victimized Children. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 34(4). 711-720.
  6. Lewis, J., Binion, G., Rogers, M., & Zalewski, M. (2019). The Associations Of Maternal Emotion Dysregulation And Early Child Dissociative Behaviors. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 21(2), 203–216.

Timed Outline
30 Minutes: Discussion of Readings 1 & 4 - An integrative and developmental frame to conceptualizing and treating dissociation in children
30 Minutes: Discussion of Readings 2 & 3 - The role of attachment in the conceptualization and treatment of child and adolescent dissociation
30 Minutes: Discussion of Reading 5 - Developmental Trauma Disorder
30 Minutes: Discussion of Reading 6 - Exploring caregiver dysregulation as a pathway to early dissociative symptoms in children
30 Minutes: Discussion of case materials applying the above readings to disguised case
 

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Describe at least two theoretical models for conceptualizing and treating complex trauma symptomatology in children and adolescents
  • Discuss the relationship between early attachment, traumatization, and dissociation
  • Identify the correlation between primary caregiver affect dysregulation and early dissociative symptoms in children
Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 2.50 APA
    The 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.
  • 2.50 ASWB ACE
    The 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 2.50 continuing education credits.
  • 2.50 ISSTD Certificate Program
    This program is eligible for 2.50 credits in the ISSTD Certificate Program. No certificate of completion is generated for this type of credit.
Course opens: 
11/01/2024
Course expires: 
07/31/2025
Event starts: 
02/26/2025 - 5:30pm EST
Event ends: 
02/26/2025 - 8:00pm EST
Part of: 
The Assessment and Treatment of Traumatic Dissociation in Children and Adolescents | Hosey 2025
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Available Credit

  • 2.50 APA
    The 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.
  • 2.50 ASWB ACE
    The 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 2.50 continuing education credits.
  • 2.50 ISSTD Certificate Program
    This program is eligible for 2.50 credits in the ISSTD Certificate Program. No certificate of completion is generated for this type of credit.
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