Onno van der Hart

Professor Emeritus of Psychopathology of Chronic Trauma

Onno van der Emeritus Professor of Psychopathology of Chronic Traumatization at the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, he has been a psychologist/psychotherapist at several mental health centers.

He has been on the Editorial Board of a number of scientific journals, and he has published several books in the area of trauma and dissociation, loss, and bereavement, and over 100 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals (several of which can be found at this website).

Onno van der Hart is a Past-President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH).

Scientific work

He is a scholar in Pierre Janet studies, exemplified by the publication of Giseppe Craparo, Francesca Ortu, & Onno van der Hart, O. (Eds.) (2019). Rediscovering Pierre Janet: Trauma, dissociation, and a new context for psychoanalysis. London & New York: Routledge.

Structural dissociation theory

Onno van der Hart has worked with colleagues Ellert Nijenhuis, PhD, and Kathy Steele, MN, CS, on a theoretical approach on trauma-related dissociation of the personality and a treatment model which unifies psychiatric disorders with a traumatic stress origin.

Their combined efforts resulted, among other things, in the publication of their book, The haunted self: Structural dissociation and the treatment of chronic traumatization (New York/London: W.W. Norton & Cie, 2006), for which they received the Media Award of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

A related book is Coping with trauma-related dissociation: Skills training for patients and therapists, by Suzette Boon, Kathy Steele and Onno van der Hart (New York/London: W. W. Norton & Co), for which the authors received the ISSTD 2011 Pierre Janet Writing Award for best writing on dissociation.

A more recent related publication is: Kathy Steele, Suzette Boon, and Onno van der Hart Treating trauma-related dissociation: A practical, integrative approach (New York/London: W. W. Norton & Cie, 2017), for which the authors received the ISSTD 2017 Pierre Janet Writing Award.

Collaboration

We have had the honour of collaborating with Professor Onno van der Hart since 2021. During this time, five events have been held, three of which you can purchase as recordings. The following have been translated

The very first: Trauma-induced dissociation: from integrative deficit to person integration – an introduction.

The seminar took place on 2 and 5 June 2021.

The Haunted Self: Understanding and Treating Trauma-Induced Dissociation, with an Emphasis on Working with Dissociated Parts. A course by Onno van der Hart.

Taking place from 19 January to 9 February 2022.

From Dissociation to Integration: How to Make Phase 2 and Phase 3 Therapy Successful for Clients with Complex Dissociative Disorder – a continuation of Onno van der Hart’s course on understanding and treating trauma-induced dissociation. A phase-oriented approach.

The course took place in January-February 2023.

‘Using Imagination in the Treatment of Dissociation Associated with Complex Trauma.’

Onno van der Hart. 11, 16 and 18 December 2023

Prior to this course, the article ‘The Use of Imagination in the First Phase of Therapy for Patients with Complex Dissociative Disorders’ by Onno van der Hart was translated into Ukrainian.

Translation by Karine Kocharyan

Trauma-induced dissociation: From integration deficit to personality integration – introduction.

From the developer of the theory of structural dissociation, Professor Onno van der Hart 10 and 17 February