Ryan (8 to 10 Years Old)—Connecting with the Body: Treatment of Somatoform Dissociation (Encopresis and Multiple Physical Complaints) in a Young Boy

Ryan, a frail 3-year-old boy, traipsed into my office at the local mental health center with his parents and older brother, Victor, aged 8. I had been treating Victor for sexual abuse (infancy to 3 years old) by a babysitter. Victor was making good progress in his healing. Now, since the parents’ attempt to train Ryan to use the potty chair for bowel movements had failed, they requested that I also work with him. So, Ryan became my client as well, and his symptom of encopresis was truly only the “tip of the iceberg.”