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The Dissociative Mind
Drawing on the pioneering work of Janet, Freud, Sullivan, and Fairbairn and making extensive use of recent literature, Elizabeth Howell develops a comprehensive model of the dissociative mind. Dissociation, for her, suffuses everyday life; it is a relationally structured survival strategy that arises out of the mind’s need to allow interaction with frightening but still urgently needed others. For therapists dissociated self-states are among the everyday fare of clinical work and gain expression in dreams, projective identifications, and enactments. Pathological dissociation, on the other hand, results when the psyche is overwhelmed by trauma and signals the collapse of relationality and an addictive clinging to dissociative solutions.
Howell examines the relationship of segregated models of attachment, disorganized attachment, mentalization, and defensive exclusion to dissociative processes in general and to particular kinds of dissociative solutions. Enactments are reframed as unconscious procedural ways of being with others that often result in segregated systems of attachment. Clinical phenomena associated with splitting are assigned to a model of “attachment-based dissociation” in which alternating dissociated self-states develop along an axis of relational trauma. Later chapters of the book examine dissociation in relation to pathological narcissism; the creation and reproduction of gender; and psychopathy.
Elegant in conception, thoughtful in tone, broad and deep in clinical applications, Howell takes the reader from neurophysiology to attachment theory to the clinical remediation of trauma states to the reality of evil. It provides a masterful overview of a literature that extends forward to the writings of Bromberg, Stern, Ryle, and others. The capstone of contemporary understandings of dissociation in relation to development and psychopathology, The Dissociative Mind will be an adventure and an education for its many clinical readers.
Howell examines the relationship of segregated models of attachment, disorganized attachment, mentalization, and defensive exclusion to dissociative processes in general and to particular kinds of dissociative solutions. Enactments are reframed as unconscious procedural ways of being with others that often result in segregated systems of attachment. Clinical phenomena associated with splitting are assigned to a model of “attachment-based dissociation” in which alternating dissociated self-states develop along an axis of relational trauma. Later chapters of the book examine dissociation in relation to pathological narcissism; the creation and reproduction of gender; and psychopathy.
Elegant in conception, thoughtful in tone, broad and deep in clinical applications, Howell takes the reader from neurophysiology to attachment theory to the clinical remediation of trauma states to the reality of evil. It provides a masterful overview of a literature that extends forward to the writings of Bromberg, Stern, Ryle, and others. The capstone of contemporary understandings of dissociation in relation to development and psychopathology, The Dissociative Mind will be an adventure and an education for its many clinical readers.
322 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
About the author
Elizabeth F. Howell
7 books20 followersA psychoanalyst and traumatologist who specializes in the treatment of dissociative disorders, Elizabeth Howell, Ph.D., is Associate Editor of the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation and Co-Director of the Dissociative Disorders Psychotherapy Training Program of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation. Dr. Howell is a faculty member of the National Institute for the Psychotherapies Trauma Studies Program and an adjunct associate professor in the psychology department of New York University. She has written and lectured widely on various aspects of trauma and dissociation. The author of The Dissociative Mind (Analytic Press, 2005), she has been awarded the Print Media Award for her work.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 20, 2015
For me this is a primary resource. I highly recommend this book.
October 25, 2021
I furiously enjoyed this book. I thought that it would be an effort to get through, as it is so dense, but I found it so compelling and interesting that it was easy to read, despite being so intensive. So very detailed, intricate, and interesting! Dissociation is my main research interest so this book is a veritable treasure trove of information, going right back to the origins of psychology to explain how we got here.
I particularly took away form this book the explanation of Janet's conception of multiple centers of consciousness with varying levels of dissociative structure, as opposed to Freud's conception of one singular consciousness, from which things are repressed. I have always had issues with repression but never examined it, this book really spells out where the concept goes awry.
I think that every psychologist/social scientist should read this! Maybe too dense for casual readers with a passing interest.
I particularly took away form this book the explanation of Janet's conception of multiple centers of consciousness with varying levels of dissociative structure, as opposed to Freud's conception of one singular consciousness, from which things are repressed. I have always had issues with repression but never examined it, this book really spells out where the concept goes awry.
I think that every psychologist/social scientist should read this! Maybe too dense for casual readers with a passing interest.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews