Establishing Safety with Patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

The incidence of self-mutilation and suicidality among patients with dissociative disorders is quite high. It is necessary for clinicians working with this population to be adept at dealing with safety problems. This article presents a sequence of basic steps that can be used when helping dissociative patients establish safety, a discussion of the functions of self-destructiveness, and an overview of specific experiences and thinking patterns that contribute to self-destructiveness among dissociative patients.