ABSTRACT
Dissociation is the main and likely the only self-protective process or defence that is deployed in an attempt to deal with trauma, whereas other defences such as splitting are employed to deal with intrapsychic conflict, according to Bromberg. The clinician considers each of Bromberg's three foundational claims at greater length, and start to tease out possible implications of these claims. These claims have the potential to change how clinicians understand Asperger's children. Consider Bromberg's treatment of the concept of trauma. Bromberg is crystal clear that developmental trauma is a universal experience—"a core relational phenomenon and invariably shapes personality in every human being". Bromberg refers to a patient who suffered "the cumulative trauma of neglect and disconfirmation" this as a result of "personal invalidation" by her mother along with the frustration of her "normal developmental need for an interested mother".
