Lara’s theme. Dissociative disorders. An integrative pathway between individual psychotherapy and multifamily psychoanalysis group

Reflections on the psychotherapeutic pathway in dissociative disorders, between individual dimension and multifamily psychoanalysis group. In the course of individual psychotherapy, it often becomes clear to the therapist that important dissociated parts are present, as well as the perception of how much these dissociative defences were necessary, the only ones available to protect the subject from the fear of the flood of painful and intolerable, unthinkable feelings; from the fear of experienced traumas and their repetition. As Bromberg states, these are necessary defenses to maintain the necessary continuity and integrity of the Self. The simultaneous participation in the multifamily psychoanalysis group can be very important for the subject to have the possibility to get in touch with dissociated parts of himself, otherwise kept at a distance, even if in the meantime, one engages in individual psychotherapeutic work. Listening to the patient during the session can show us, even with great clarity, how much the participation in the group allows him to approach his suffering, supported also by a network of relations and shared meanings. The contribution of the two therapeutic dimensions can allow, by enlarging and alternating the two fields of work, to open spaces of elaboration and new awareness, usable to favour a tolerable integration for the subject and for the therapeutic couple itself.

Keywords: dissociation, continuity of the self, trauma, metaphorical mirroring, multifamily psychoanalysis group, individual psychotherapy.

Mariantonietta Masia, Il tema di Lara. I disturbi dissociativi. Un percorso di integrazione tra psicoterapia individuale e gruppo di Psicoanalisi Multifamiliare in "INTERAZIONI" 1/2022, pp 68-81, DOI: 10.3280/INT2022-001009