Introduction:

dissociative disorders are becoming a serious problem between childhood and adolescence, with possible psychiatric and legal complications, if not treated properly. Psychotherapy is a psychological treatment that favors the decrease of symptoms and the behaviors in these patients.

Objective:

reduce co-morbidity of teenagers with dissociative disorders.

Method:

a participatory action research study was conducted at Luis Escalona Mole Behavioral School from Holguín municipality, Cuba, during the period January - June, 2017. The sample consisted of 13 teenagers chosen at random. The studied variables were: age, sex, scholarship, health area, co-morbidity, classification of the diagnosis according to age of onset and symptoms severity. Psychotherapeutic intervention was designed and applied to patients through qualitative analysis techniques, with proposed objectives in each of the interventions.

Results:

the predominant age group was adolescents between 14 and 15 years of age (46.1%), and males (69.2%). Most of them were in the 9th grade and belonged to the municipality of Holguín. 100% of the children had comorbidity, most often attention deficit disorder (46.2%); mild symptoms were the most significant (53.8%), and the onset of these in adolescence (61.5%). The objectives were achieved in each of the psychotherapy sessions, with modification of attitudes and thoughts, better alignment of their behaviour and comorbidity reduction, plus a positive impact on parents and teachers.

Conclusions:

the intervention applied was considered effective because it provided a greater social adjustment for these children and decreased co-morbidity.

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