The goal of this pilot clinical trial is to learn whether an integrated 16-week treatment program can be helpful, acceptable, and feasible for adults with complex dissociative disorder (CDD). The program combines individual Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) therapy with a supportive therapeutic group.
The study is conducted at an outpatient clinic for traume-related disorders in Oslo, Norway, and enrols individuals based on rights to receive specialist treatment in the Norwegian public health system.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Is it possible to recruit, retain, and treat patients with CDD in this program (feasibility, attendance, drop-out, and treatment tolerability)? How do participants experience receiving DBR together with a supportive group (helpfulness, burden, and suggestions for improvement)? Are there preliminary changes in symptoms, functioning, and quality of life from before to after treatment and at 6-month follow-up? Are two new DBR-specific questionnaires (Where Self Awareness Scale and Shock Induced Vigilance Scale) useful for this patient group? There is no comparison group in this pilot study. All participants receive the same integrated DBR + group intervention.
Participants will:
* Take part in two preparatory individual sessions to receive information about DBR, try the method, and clarify treatment goals.
* Attend a 16-week program with one 45-minute individual DBR session per week and two 30-minute online group sessions per week.
* Join in-person group meetings before the program and a focus group meeting at the end to talk about what was helpful and what could be improved.
* Complete standard questionnaires about trauma-related symptoms before and after treatment, as well as two brief DBR-specific questionnaires at several time points.
* Take part in group interviews right after treatment and 6 months later, and have an individual closing session to summarize their experiences and discuss next steps.