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For about a century clinical observations suggested the association between dissociative symptoms and developmental trauma. Retrospective and prospective studies confirmed that dissociation is the central pathogenic process of developmental trauma. Dissociative processes generate dissociative symptoms likely to dominate some clinical pictures such as Dissociative Disorders or Borderline personality disorder, or also surface, in different proportions, in practically all DSM-IV diagnostic categories as an index of negative outcome. This paper aims to review some crucial issues on dissociative phenomena and processes originated from traumatic experiences in childhood. The article also purposes the existence of a traumatic-dissociative psychopathological dimension, its clinical meaning and the treatment strategies to overcome the difficulties it causes during psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]