Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder [Hardcover]

Putnam. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0898621771 | ISBN-13: 978-0898621778 | Publication Date: February 3, 1989 | Edition: 1

Geared to the needs of mental health practitioners unfamiliar with dissociative disorders, this volume establishes a comprehensive and integrated approach to their diagnosis and treatment. Each step- from first interview to final post-integrative treatment- is systematically reviewed, with detailed instructions on specific diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and examples of their clinical application. This concise yet thorough volume offers expert advice on when and how to begin therapy, what clinical signposts to watch for, and what basic errors to avoid. This book will be of interest to psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers, and other mental health practitioners.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Putnam's Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder is an excellent text for advanced undergraduates or graduate students. The detailed presentation of stages of treatment is especially useful, and the discussion of boundary management and other therapeutic issues is timely and thought provoking." --David Rainey, Ph.D., Psychology Department, John Carroll University

"Demystifies MPD and places it squarely in the mainstream of contemporary knowledge about the impact of childhood trauma. The book promises to be a synthesis of the ideas, techniques, and treatment philosophies about MPD. It delivers on these promises and more. It places MPD in its historical perspective as the disorder that clarifies much about the nature of human consciousness, and now has the potential of helping to unravel the psychobiological linkages between mind and body. The sober, detailed, step-by-step guide through every conceivable aspect of the complex therapy of these patients provides a balanced guide for all clinicians dealing with multiple personality and other dissociative disorders. Putnam's work will be the standard in the field for a long time to come. In breadth of scope, clarity of style, and lucidity of ideas it may even surpass Janet's classic works on the subject." --Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Massachusetts Mental Health Center Trauma Clinic Director, Harvard Medical School, Author of Psychological Trauma

About the Author

Trained as a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist at Yale University and George Washington University, Frank W. Putnam, MD, is a leading authority on dissociative disorders. He is Chief of Developmental Traumatology at the National Institute of Mental Health and directs clinical research on the effects of maltreatment, community violence, and other types of trauma across the lifespan. He is the author of [ital]Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 351 pages
• Publisher: Guilford Press; 1 edition (February 3, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898621771
• ISBN-13: 978-0898621778
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Personality Disorders

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Validating and Helpful, July 12, 2002

By 

Cetcetera (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder (Hardcover)

This book helped us to understand ourselves better. We read this book in search of things that we could relate to that might be similar to our own experiences. It speaks of signs and characteristics that multiples display that we found very much the same as our own life. Really helped in our acceptance of the diagnosis.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I run a large website for people with multiple personalities, August 10, 2007

By 

Criss Ittermann "The Crisses / Rev. Criss Itt... (Middletown, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder (Hardcover)

I found Dr. Putnam's book to be helpful in very real ways. Not only did he go into the anatomy of the disorder -- and there were plenty of things I disagreed with given my insights into my own experiences with myself and other multiples -- but he went into helpful methodologies for exploration and treatment. He was respectful that multiples do not need to integrate. He mentioned that not all entities in a multiple's head are human-identified. These were critical to me. I don't expect that any one book would get "everything right" for such a complicated, unusual, and ill-understood mental landscape. What I do expect is that people who write about it write from either a wealth of experience, clinical understanding, personal experience, or bountiful qualifications that they are merely stating their opinion. Dr. Putnam has a wealth of observational and clinical experience to share, and his own personal experience with people he is helping. I take each individual statement as a possibility within the wide and deep realm of multiple personality, but I do not apply his individual statements to individuals. Individuals and their expressions of multiple personality vary widely. I have my own perceptions and insights and share them at kinhost.org. Dr. Putnam gives me a book I enjoy arguing with -- and quoting. I would venture to say there's no better book for a clinician to familiarize themself with the phenomenon and possible ways to explore it from a clinical standpoint, but I would also tell you that your experience of any one individual with multiple personalities is not easily reflected by ANY one book. Read away, but then be prepared for any individual multiple to go "out of bounds".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent !, September 6, 2010

By 

K. Coleman (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder (Hardcover)

This book is full of vital information for therapists treating people with DID.
Well worth every penny !