ABSTRACT
One of the most neglected areas in psychiatric illnesses, until recent years, has been the field of dissociative disorders. Although the roots of our current understanding are well known through the histories of such investigators as Pierre Janet, Jean Charcot and Sigmund Freud which are beautifully told in the classic book, The Discovery of the Unconscious (Ellenberger, 1970), it is only in recent years that books devoted to the description and treatment of dissociative disorders have entered the medical literature (Beahrs, 1982; Braun, 1986; Bliss, 1986; Kluft, 1985; Putnam 1989). Since the inaugural meeting of The International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation in Chicago in 1984, there has been a dramatic increase in the literature of dissociative disorders now available to mental health care professionals (Goettman, Greaves & Coons, 1991, 1992). Currently, it is being recognized that the prevalence of dissociative disorders is quite high (Ross, 1989) and it is essential for therapists to be able to recognize and treat these disorders.
