May 2026:
Meet Dr. Rick Hohfeler &
Dissociation: The Hidden Side of Trauma

What Can You Expect?

Providers and caregivers of all stripes have been encountering survivors of trauma and severely traumatized people long before the advent of "Trauma-Informed Care". However, the reality of how these traumatized folks manage to maintain functioning day-to-day alongside inescapable and insurmountable trauma, has not been well conceptualized or understood by the provider community. In order to effectively manage a simply unmanageable amount of abuse and all of the ramifications thereafter, many traumatized people, particularly those abused in early childhood, develop unconscious ways to share this burden and separate themself from it altogether. Indeed, one of the hallmarks of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is one of a "mind hiding from itself" (Chefetz, 2015).

In this interactive presentation, we will explore the vital information that will help you feel begin to feel capable and confident to be a caregiver that can truly show up for someone with dissociative disorders, including DID, or an advocate for those with dissociative disorders. We are incredibly lucky to have Dr. Rick Hohfeler presenting and leading the discussion. The conversation will cover the following objectives:

-How to recognize dissociative symptoms 

-How to initiate a dialogue with clients at various stages of awareness

-Practical troubleshooting for specific situations 

-Q & A session

The  accurate recognition of a symptom or behavior as actually being rooted in a dissociative disorder can give fundamental understanding that was lacking to us as clinical providers, e.g., chronic and treatment resistant depression, anxiety and panic, visual and auditory hallucinations, OCD, eating disorders, and others. In fact, many clinicians who treat Dissociative Disorders report their clients having received multiple erroneous diagnoses from previous providers before discovering the issues were dissociative all along. Diagnosing dissociative disorders accurately leads to better outcomes for these clients. They inherently become more engaged in the treatment they receive and therefore that treatment is more productive. Expanding the provider pool that feels prepared to help this very real population is of vital importance. 

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“It's not about how many DID clients you've had, it's being willing to work with your first one and learn as you go" -unnamed client living with DID

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More about Dr. Rick Hohfeler

He is a clinical psychologist graduating from Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in 1986. He has maintained a private practice in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area for the past 30 years, specializing in psychological trauma since 1986 as co-manager of an inpatient program treating survivors of abuse at Rogers Memorial Hospital where he also co-managed an inpatient program treating children and adolescents until 1995. He continues to treat adults, children, and adolescents suffering from disorders associated with severe developmental trauma including a special emphasis on dissociative disorders in private practice. This specialty was also applied within the Wisconsin Department of Corrections from 2008-2020. He has provided supervision and consultation to therapists and case managers from a variety of agencies in the Milwaukee area for the past 20 years with consultation affiliations having expanded internationally.

Rick is a faculty member of the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he has taught courses in trauma and dissociation. He is a member of ISSTD and was elected to their Board of Directors in 2016, serving until 2021. Since 2014 he has acted as moderator for the Virtual Book Club sponsored by ISSTD. He has presented professionally on topics related to trauma and dissociation locally, nationally, and internationally. He has published papers related to working with trauma/dissociation in forensic settings as well as a paper regarding the regulatory aspects of shame in dissociative disorders.

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