Citation

Steele H. Attach. Hum. Dev. 2003; 5(4): 353-66; discussion 409-14.

Affiliation

Sub-Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. h.steele@ucl.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15061309

Abstract

This paper will present illustrations from Adult Attachment Interviews conducted with adult female survivors of chronic ritual abuse in their family of origin. A model of multiple personality disorder informed by the Adult Attachment Interview coding and classification system will be presented. A range of victim, perpetrator and bystander personalities may be identified in the same interview, indeed in the same speaker. For the speaker who believes herself to be one of a number of co-existing personalities, integration and coherence means death of a loved one, indeed death of the sense of self. Possibilities of re-birth into a single integrated self are posited.

Language: en