Webinar: Dissociation - Essential Skills for Trauma-Informed Clinicians

Essential Skills for Trauma-Informed Clinicians: Assessing and Treating Dissociation with the SCID-D Interview in Compassion-Focused Therapy.

Level: Beginners

Registration

This is a two-hour online webinar on Wednesday 10th December which will take place over Zoom.

This workshop will be 2 hours towards your CPD, and you will receive a certificate of attendance shortly after the workshop.

This workshop will be recorded, and recordings will be available for up to 3 months after the live broadcast for you to watch in your own time.

Timings

All timings are according to UK GMT

10th December 2025

17.00 - 19.00 (2 hours)

Pricing

This workshop is priced at a flat rate of £50.00

For those in difficult financial circumstances, who may struggle to afford this price, please contact hello@compassionatemind.co.uk

About this Workshop

Dissociation is a universal adaptive defense for surviving overwhelming stress and trauma. Trauma survivors, especially those with dissociative symptoms and disorders (including Dissociative Identity Disorder, Other Specified Dissociative Disorder, and complex PTSD) often present with a wide array of symptoms such as depression, mood swings, and anxiety. Beneath these presenting symptoms often lie crucial, hidden experiences associated with dissociation, including profound self-alienation, conflicting emotions, pervasive inner fragmentation, and self-criticism, which make verbalizing their feelings challenging. Effectively treating post-traumatic dissociation necessitates specialized approaches to uncover, understand, and address these hidden dissociative processes and their underlying parts of self.

Developed by Professor Paul Gilbert, Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) helps individuals cultivate a compassionate self that facilitates acceptance, safety, and integration, ultimately reducing inner suffering. CFT emphasizes the inherent "multiplicity of our minds," recognizing that we often experience diverse "parts of self" with distressing conflicting emotions, thoughts, and motives (Gilbert, 2010). Developing a compassionate self is crucial for navigating this internal complexity and addressing challenging internal patterns, and is essential for the treatment of trauma survivors.

This presentation introduces the SCID-D Interview, considered the gold standard for assessing dissociative symptoms and disorders in adolescents and adults. Grounded in over four decades of global research, the SCID-D offers a unique interactive semi-structured framework based on Dr. Steinberg's Five-Component Model of Dissociation. The SCID-D's open-ended, gentle, and nuanced questions promote client exploration of their inner feelings and experiences. Furthermore, its proven, transdiagnostic interview techniques systematically identify five universal dissociative components, fostering a deeper understanding of the person's inner world and facilitating client mentalization, insight, and healing.

Since many clients with dissociative symptoms often go undetected, early SCID-D assessment is vital. The SCID-D provides clinicians with a step-by-step method to help clients explore and understand the "complex facets of our multi-minds" (Gilbert, 2010), a core concept of CFT. The SCID-D’s non-pathologizing assessment is consistent with CFT’s approach and empowers Compassion Focused therapists to effectively reduce inner conflicts between dissociative parts, thereby optimizing trauma-informed treatment.

By integrating SCID-D assessment with core CFT techniques, clinicians can detect previously hidden dissociation, significantly reduce misdiagnosis and prevent years of ineffective treatment. This presentation will introduce the SCID-D’s Five Component Model of Dissociation, which can guide clinicians in identifying core internal conflicts between varied parts of self in trauma-related disorders, leading to more precise, compassionate, and effective therapeutic outcomes.

Objectives:

· Identify the challenges associated with recognizing post-traumatic dissociative symptoms and disorders.

· Learn about the empirically proven SCID-D Five-Component Model of Dissociation and its five universal components that identify hidden dissociative processes underlying trauma-related conditions.

· Be introduced to the SCID-D Interview: Explore, through video demonstrations, how this practical, evidence-based therapeutic tool can be integrated into CFT practice.

· Discover how integrating the SCID-D Interview and CFT's approach can foster deeper client insight into their internal world (multiplicity of mind) and enhance connection to their compassionate self, guiding treatment and improving outcomes.

References

Gilbert P: Compassion Focused Therapy, Routlege, London, 2010

Steinberg M., Schnall M.: The Stranger in the Mirror: Dissociation—The Hidden Epidemic. Harper Collins, New York, 2010

The SCID-D: Dissociation Assessment in Therapy, Forensics, and Research. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, Washington, DC, 2023

Steinberg M.: Interviewer’s Guide to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D). American Psychiatric Press, Washington, DC, 1993

Steinberg M.: Handbook for the Assessment of Dissociation: A Clinical Guide. American Psychiatric Press, Washington, DC, 1995

Steinberg M.: Advances in the clinical assessment of dissociation: the SCID-D-R. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic 64(2):146–163, 2000

Workshop Leaders

Rémy Aquarone

I am a Psychoanalyst, Director of The Pottergate Centre for Dissociation & Trauma and an accredited member of the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC), as well as a retired member of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). I am a past member of the International Society for the Study of Trauma & Dissociation (ISST-D www.isst-d.org) and the European Society for Trauma and Dissociation (ESTD). I was formerly the International Director of ISSD (International Society for the Study of Dissociation) and Chair of the UKSSD (United Kingdom Society for the Study of Dissociation). I am Past President of the ESTD (European Society for Trauma & Dissociation: www.estd.org). For over 30 years I have specialised in the area of Dissociation and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). The Centre has a service level agreement with several ICB’s and secondary services across the country. The activities of the centre include the assessment of clients and patients, acting as consultants to CMHTs and secondary services generally. A major part of the work is assisting NHS Trusts to develop a trauma pathway for dissociation and complex traumas.

Dr Stephanie Sneider

I am a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, working part time in NHS adult mental health services, as the clinical lead for the West Yorkshire Survivors of Sexual Abuse Pathfinder Programme. I have spent my career, of over 20 years of working with NHS Mental Health Services, working with survivors of childhood abuse and trauma who experience significant dissociation and in a variety of mental health settings: acute and secure inpatient, rehabilitation, community crisis and secondary care therapy services. I am a trained DBT and EMDR therapist, a member of the Bradford DBT Consultation Team and the Critical Incident Debrief Service. I focus on supporting the system around clients who experience significant trauma-based difficulties including severe dissociation and DID. I provide trauma-informed, formulation-based consultation and group supervision to NHS multi-disciplinary teams and independent care providers, to the benefit of clients and staff; supporting joined up working, reducing anxiety, fragmentation and burnout and increasing therapeutic optimism. In my work with The Pottergate Centre, providing diagnostic assessment, consultation on care delivery, supervision, training and individual therapy. I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and hold chartered status with the British Psychological Society. I am a member of the European Society for Trauma and Dissociation (ESTD).

Marlene Steinberg, M.D., is a leading expert in the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic dissociative symptoms and disorders, having presented workshops worldwide. She is the developer of the SCID-D Interview, considered the gold standard in the field (American Psychiatric Association Publishing, latest edition, 2023). While on the faculty at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Steinberg was awarded extensive grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, securing the first substantial grants from NIMH in the field of dissociation.

Dr. Steinberg has authored several books, including The Handbook for the Assessment of Dissociation and the popular The Stranger in the Mirror: Dissociation - The Hidden Epidemic, which provides education, hope, and support for trauma survivors. Recognized as one of America’s Best Doctors for nineteen years, Dr. Steinberg practices in Naples, Florida.