ABSTRACT
Judith Herman (1992) argues that formulation needs to take complexity into account and that there should be an of®cial recognition of this idea. She points out the basis for the current categorization of `post-traumatic stress disorder' as based in experiences that have not necessarily been prolonged, repeated or relational. She states that:
Survivors of prolonged abuse develop characteristic personality changes, including deformations of relatedness and identity. Survivors of abuse in childhood develop similar problems with relationships and identity; in addition, they are particularly vulnerable to repeated harm, both self-in¯icted and at the hands of others. The current formulation of post-traumatic stress disorder fails to capture either the protean symptomatic manifestations of prolonged, repeated trauma or the profound deformations of personality that occur in captivity.
