Assessment and Treatment of Dissociative Disorders
Friday, February 28th, from 9AM-4:00PM
6 CE Credits
Presented by Dr. Stacey Boyer
Program Description: Clinicians recognize the ubiquity of trauma in the lives of their clients. However, very few receive training on the identification and treatment of trauma-related dissociation (Henning, Brand, & Courtois, 2022). Those few clinicianswho do receive graduate-level training are often provided with inaccurate or outdated informationthat can lead to misinterpretation of symptoms (Nester et al., 2024; Brand, Kumar, & McEwen, 2019). As a result, people living with dissociative disorders often go years without correct diagnosis or appropriate treatment, all the while experiencingworsening symptoms and potentially negative or harmful interactions with mental health providers. When clients diagnosed with dissociative disorders have access to evidence-based interventions, they demonstrate improved functioning across areas of their lives. This program will integrate recent research and practice relevant to understanding, assessing, and treating trauma-related dissociation and dissociative disorders. Didactic training, de-identified case examples, interactive discussion, and opportunities to practice skills will be included to enhance learning.
Presenter Bio: Stacey M. Boyer, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and the Associate Director of Clinical Services at the University of Delaware’s Center for Counseling and Student Development. She also maintains a private practice in which she provides outpatient psychotherapy and assessment for trauma survivors and healthcare workers, as well as consultation for clinicians. After earning her doctorate at Widener University in 2014, she completed the prestigious Sheppard Pratt Trauma Disorders Fellowship, where she provided assessment, treatment, and consultation related to dissociative identity disorder. Dr. Boyer previously served as the Director of Outpatient, Embedded, and Integrated Psychology for ChristianaCare.
Dr. Boyer is an Adjunct Professor at Widener University. She is a 2021 recipient of Governor Carney’s Compassionate Champion Award for her leadership in Trauma-Informed Care and she served on the U.S. Surgeon General’s Roundtable for Clinician Wellbeing. She has held several local and national leadership positions for organizations such as the Philadelphia Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology and the Society for Personality Assessment. Dr. Boyer has published and presented on topics of trauma, dissociation, and clinician well-being. Dr. Boyer most recently published a toolkit on trauma-informed leadership for the American Medical Association, a webinar on emerging best practices in the treatment of healthcare workers (accredited by the American Psychological Association), articles and book chapters on the assessment and treatment dissociative identity disorder, and she co-authored professional practice guidelines for the assessment of trauma in adults for the American Psychological Association, which are currently under review.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:
1. Understand the prevalence rates of PTSD and dissociative disorders.
2. Explain the hallmarks of adaptive, healthier dissociation and less adaptive or pathological dissociation.
3. Describe the impact of media and film portrayals on people diagnosed with dissociative disorders.
4. Describe a mental status exam for trauma and dissociation.
5. Identify 2 screening measures that can be helpful in approximating the nature and severity of a client’s dissociative symptoms.
6. List evidence-based assessment instruments for the assessment of trauma and dissociative disorders.
7. Describe evidence-based treatments for dissociative disorders.
8. Describe common enactments that can occur in psychotherapy with clients diagnosed with trauma-related dissociative disorders.
9. Learn at least 5 trauma-focused symptom management skills, including grounding skills, techniques to help clients reorient if experiencing flashbacks, containment, emotion regulation, sleep interventions, safety/crisis management, and internal communication or collaboration skills.
