Treatment Plans for DID Teens: Therapy for Dissociative Identity Disorder in Adolescents
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) has often taken the spotlight in films, books, and TV – sometimes leading to misunderstandings about what the condition is and how it presents.
In reality, DID is a condition marked by a fragmented identity, undisclosed trauma, and a deep yearning for safety. If your child struggles with these issues, not knowing how to help can be heartbreaking and frustrating.
Finding the right support might feel overwhelming, but you’re not alone. Therapy for dissociative identity disorder adolescents can help teens move toward healing and a more “whole” sense of self. Plus, since the condition is typically rooted in early trauma, professional support is the recommended approach.
Speaking with a mental health professional can help you better understand the condition and treatment plans for DID teens. This page can also help by guiding you through:
- What DID is
- Signs of DID in teenagers
- The importance of personalized treatment plans
- Effective therapies for DID
- How to find professional help
What Is Dissociative Identity Disorder?
Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a serious mental health condition that affects up to two in every hundred people.1 If a person has DID, it means that they experience two or more entirely separate personalities or identities, also known as “alters” or alternative identities.
These alters function completely independently of each other, meaning they may each have unique behaviors and memories. In fact, the person may not even realize they have more than one identity. These symptoms may sound startling, but awareness of what causes DID can help people make sense of them.
DID often stems from early childhood trauma, experiences of neglect, or abuse. For example, it can develop if a child grows up in an area of war. Alternatively, it can also form if their home environment is frightening or chaotic, such as in cases of disorganized attachment.2,3 A common response to such forms of trauma is dissociation – a key component of DID – which is looked at in more detail below.
What Is Dissociation?
Simply put, dissociation is the mind’s way of protecting us from harm or trauma by providing a way to detach ourselves from what is happening. It is a survival mechanism that develops to help a child emotionally and psychologically survive a scary situation that they cannot escape from. Yet, although it can serve an important purpose temporarily, it is still a coping mechanism that someone may have no control over, or may not even be aware they have.
In fact, if dissociation is needed as a protective mechanism in early childhood, without healing experiences, it could continue being used into adolescence and adulthood. As a result, someone may go on to experience severe dissociation and develop separate identities to hold their traumatic memories. These symptoms can lead to dissociative identity disorder.
DID can be a complex condition to live with. But, fortunately, it is also treatable. The DID treatment teens often benefit from the most is therapy for dissociative identity disorder adolescents. The treatment options for teens are explored later in this article. However, before we get to these, we will cover the symptoms of DID in adolescents next, so that you know the signs to look for.
Common Symptoms of DID in Adolescents
Recognizing the signs of DID is often essential for accessing the support your teen needs. However, spotting these symptoms may be challenging as the teen years are a natural time for identity exploration, leading people to mistake DID symptoms for “typical” teenage behaviors.
Additionally, certain aspects of DID add to difficulties with diagnosis. For instance, several symptoms from entirely distinct “alters” may overlap with or be mistaken for other mental health issues. For example, borderline personality disorder, depression, psychosis, or schizophrenia.2
However, the main factor separating DID from other mental health conditions is the presence of distinct, differing personalities. Let’s take a look at the symptoms of DID below.
Signs of DID in Teens
Some of the most common symptoms of DID include:2
- Existence of at least two distinct personalities, identities, or “alters”
- Each personality exhibiting unique behaviors, memories, senses of consciousness, and perceptions of the outside world
- Experiencing amnesia or discrete gaps in memory
- Symptoms causing problems with daily functioning
Additionally, it is important to know that to receive a DID diagnosis, none of the above symptoms should be linked to substance use or cultural norms.
Some examples of DID behavior to look for in teens are:2-5
- Sudden mood shifts that don’t seem to be connected to a particular situation
- Sharp changes in behavior or identity, such as dressing in alternative ways to their usual style or speaking in a different tone of voice
- Forgetting important information, parts of their day, or entire conversations
- Saying they feel disconnected from themselves, their surroundings, or reality
- Showing emotional symptoms resulting from DID, such as frustration from having memory lapses, confusion, stress, or anxiety
These symptoms can, understandably, be scary and confusing for teens experiencing DID and their parents. Fortunately, DID can be treated, allowing a teen to live a more unified and fulfilling life. The importance of having personalized mental health treatment DID adolescents receive is explored in the next section.
Importance of Personalized Treatment Plans for DID Teenagers
When accessing treatment for your teen’s DID, it’s vital to choose a provider who can create a personalized treatment plan. Research shows that personalized treatments can lead to better outcomes and improved patient engagement. They can also allow teens to feel more confident in their ability to manage their condition.6,7
In a nutshell, a personalized treatment plan means that your teen’s specific symptoms, needs, and strengths will be taken into account, alongside other factors such as family support. External support is also considered and included where appropriate, ensuring a collaborative approach between the teen, family, therapist, and care providers. This allows the creation of a continuous, evidence-based treatment plan that provides your teen with the opportunity to truly heal.
Therapy for dissociative identity disorder adolescents is often the primary treatment for DID. In these approaches, a customized approach allows therapists to address the complexities of trauma processing and dissociation in DID at a flexible pace that is matched to the teen’s ability.
Next, we shall explore evidence-based therapy options for teens with DID.
Therapy for Dissociative Identity Disorder Adolescents
Although there is no “cure” for DID, it can be effectively managed with the right support. As mentioned, the professional help dissociative identity disorder teens typically benefit from most is therapy.
Therapy or counseling for DID youth comes in various forms, known as “therapeutic approaches.” Yet, there is no single “best” therapy for adolescents with DID, as this complex condition often requires a combination of approaches to treat different aspects of the disorder. However, certain approaches are most commonly combined to enable a more stable recovery, which we explore in the following sections.
Before going into detail on these approaches, it can be helpful to understand the main stages of treatment for DID.
Typically, there are three phases to treating DID, including:2
- Establishing safety, stabilization, and symptom reduction: Many patients with DID may struggle with self-harm or suicidal ideation, so it’s important to help them stabilize and feel safe before they begin exploring their trauma.8
- Confronting, working through, and integrating traumatic memories: This stage often focuses on accessing traumatic memories, including through the teen’s different identities, to help them process and work through their trauma.
- Identity reintegration: Reintegration involves merging the teen’s distinct identities into a single personality.
As may be evident, these three stages frequently call for different therapeutic approaches: therapies that teach and encourage emotional stability and trauma-informed approaches for processing difficult traumatic experiences. We examine these approaches in the sections below.
Therapy for Emotional Safety
In the first stage of treatment, several therapeutic approaches may be used to help a teen reach an emotionally safe and stable place before processing trauma. Two of these approaches are cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
In cognitive behavioral therapy DID adolescents can learn more about their condition, develop a deeper awareness of their emotions, behaviors, and thoughts, and discover coping strategies to keep themselves safe. CBT is a structured type of psychotherapy DID teenagers may experience, which typically also has an element of homework. As an important part of this therapeutic approach, homework encourages teens to practise the skills they have learnt in their therapy sessions at home.
DBT can teach teenagers the skills they need to help control certain symptoms, such as emotional regulation and improved communication. These skills are vital for building safety, stabilization, and managing distress that they may experience in the future.9 Plus, learning and enhancing these skills may be particularly useful for the second stage of treatment, in which processing trauma is often the focus.
Trauma-Focused Therapy for Teens
Once a teen feels safe and stable, the second phase of treatment can begin. As DID is often rooted in trauma, trauma focused therapy for DID teens focuses on treating the core of their problems.
As may be obvious, trauma-focused therapy can help someone process their traumatic experiences. Therapists trained in trauma techniques help people discuss memories in detail within a safe and supportive environment. This may require accessing different alters for assistance, especially if they are holding traumatic memories safe for someone. Because of the nature of sessions, it’s important that a teen feels comfortable in the relationship with their therapist.
There are different types of trauma-focused therapy. Some, such as trauma-focused CBT, focus on education, developing coping skills, addressing trauma-related symptoms, and trauma processing.10 Other types, such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), allow patients to process their past trauma and fragmented memories without necessarily needing to discuss all of the details.11
Additional Therapeutic Approaches
In addition to the above therapies, other therapeutic approaches or options are available to help your child during their recovery from DID. For instance:
In integrative therapy DID teenagers can experience different therapeutic approaches blended into one seamless experience. This approach can be particularly helpful for DID symptoms, provided the therapist is experienced in working with trauma, adolescents, and dissociative disorders.
Family therapy may also be a useful option for teens and their families struggling with symptoms of DID. During family therapy DID teens and their parents are supported in sessions together. These sessions allow the entire family unit to gain a greater understanding of DID, improve their communication, and build support for the teen.
If outpatient therapeutic approaches aren’t providing enough support for your teen, residential treatment may be a viable option. Residential settings are often considered if a teen poses a risk to themself, such as through self-harm or suicidal thoughts. In residential DID treatment youth receive round-the-clock care and support from medical and mental health experts. These intensive support programs for DID teens can also provide therapy and allow opportunities for learning new skills, understanding the condition better, and discovering ways to manage symptoms. It is a healing environment where a teen can focus solely on recovery without any other distractions.
As you may realize, recovery from DID isn’t an overnight fix: it’s a process of self-exploration, working through trauma, and acceptance. But with the right support and professional help, your teen can heal and live a more fulfilling life.
Find Expert DID Treatment for Teens at Mission Prep
Watching your teen struggle with dissociative identity disorder can be understandably distressing, especially if you aren’t sure how to help them or where to turn for support. But you don’t have to navigate recovery alone.
At Mission Prep, we specialize in trauma-informed, evidence-based treatment for adolescents living with DID. Our team of mental health professionals understands how complex and overwhelming this condition can be for teens. Therefore, we aim to provide compassionate care and a personalized treatment plan that can support your teen’s safety and long-term recovery.
Contact us today to find out how we can support your teen’s journey toward self-understanding, hope, and healing.
References
- Dissociative Identity Disorder Research. (n.d.). Dissociative Identity Disorder Prevalence. DID-Research.org. Retrieved September 16, 2025, from https://did-research.org/did/basics/prevalence
- Mitra, P., & Jain, A. (2023, May 16). Dissociative Identity Disorder. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK568768/
- Mayo Clinic. (n.d.). Dissociative disorders – Symptoms and causes. Retrieved September 16, 2025, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dissociative-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20355215
- Carlson, E.B. & Putnam, F.W. (1993). An update on the Dissociative Experience Scale. Dissociation, 6(1), p. 16-27. https://traumadissociation.com/des
- Cleveland Clinic. (2025, August 4). Dissociative Identity Disorder. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9792-dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder#overview
- Coulter, A., Entwistle, V. A., Eccles, A., Ryan, S., Shepperd, S., & Perera, R. (2015). Personalised care planning for adults with chronic or long-term health conditions. Cochrane Library, 2015(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd010523.pub2
- Li, W., Gleeson, J., Fraser, M. I., Ciarrochi, J., Hofmann, S. G., Hayes, S. C., & Sahdra, B. (2024). The efficacy of personalized psychological interventions in adolescents: a scoping review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1470817
- Foote, B., Smolin, Y., Neft, D. I., & Lipschitz, D. (2008). Dissociative disorders and suicidality in psychiatric outpatients. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196(1), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1097/nmd.0b013e31815fa4e7
- Foote, B., & Van Orden, K. (2016). Adapting Dialectical Behavior therapy for the treatment of dissociative identity Disorder. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 70(4), 343–364. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2016.70.4.343
- Vancappel, A., Reveillere, C., El-Hage, W. (2022). Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for dissociative subtype PTSD: A case study. European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 6(4), 100290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejtd.2022.100290
- Twombly, J. H. (2000). Incorporating EMDR and EMDR Adaptations into the Treatment of Clients with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 1(2), 61–81. https://doi.org/10.1300/j229v01n02_05