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DISSOCIATION: CLINICAL AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES edited by Steven Jay Lynn and Judith W. Rhue. The Guilford Press, New York, 1994. xvii + 477 pages, Hardcover $40.00.
This multi-authored work synthesizes current thinking on dissociation and its disorders. Divergent theoretical, clinical and research perspectives are well represented by experts from relevant subspecialties. There are three parts: I: theoretical and research perspectives; II: diagnosis, assessment, and treatment perspectives; and III: issues and controversies. These themes actually overlap throughout.
After Cardena's opening "domain of dissociation," Hilgard updates his classic "neodissociation theory," clarifying the fundamental role of dissociation in human psychology, followed by Woody and Bowers' "frontal assault" on dissociated control. Frankel pays respect to the heuristic power of Hilgard's work, and pungently adds that "in the clinical arena (such clarity is) conspicuous by its absence." Clinical trends are "propelled by their own momentum" (pp. 86-87) beyond what data can justify. Brown reviews work on the roles of neurotransmitters in PTSD, and contrasts dissociation with neurological disorders like complex partial seizures. Barret views dream characters as a normal analogue for alters. Spanos and Burgess conclude part I with a different perspective. Noting the context dependency of hypnotic responding, and how the defining features of multiple personality vary from one historical era to another, they conclude that "the phenomenon of multiplicity can be better understood from a sociocognitive and historical perspective" (p. 151).
Part II shifts to clinicians' points of view. Carlson and Armstrong open with assessment considerations, i.e., use of self-report measures, structured clinical interviews, and standard test batteries. They also acknowledge Erickson and...