GLOBAL EXPERT SERIES
Diagnosing Maladaptive Daydreaming: A Dissociative-Compulsive Fantasy Addiction

Live Webinar: Wednesday 11th March, 2026

About this webinar

Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD) is a suggested mental disorder, characterized by repeated and prolonged episodes of intense, vivid, immersive fantasizing that cause clinically significant distress and/or dysfunction in social, academic, or vocational domains. The daydreams often include an idealized version of one’s self and/or family and may serve a compensatory or other emotion regulation function. While these episodes are experienced as pleasurable in the short term, they become an excessive and rigid coping mechanism that in turn generates shame, guilt, and loneliness. Although not yet formally recognized in psychiatric manuals, many leaders in the dissociation field have advocated for it to be officially listed as a dissociative disorder. The term is also embraced by thousands of sufferers worldwide who implore the mental health field to acknowledge their problem. 

By reviewing state of the art research findings with case examples, in this webinar Prof. Nirit Soffer-Dudek will outline the concept of MD, its diagnosing criteria, differential diagnosis, and key etiological mechanisms (focusing on dissociation and attention). Clinicians will also obtain some initial ideas on how to tailor appropriate interventions for MD in their practice.

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Webinar Details

Venue: Online on Zoom. Includes access to video recording for 90 days

Dates: Wednesday, 18th of March 2026

Time: 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. (Sydney/Melbourne Time) 

Cost: A$89 

CPD Certificate: 2 hours. 

Global Expert Series

Clinically Explore Maladaptive Daydreaming

Gain clarity on MD diagnosis, differential considerations, and intervention ideas.

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Prof. Nirit Soffer-Dudek

Nirit Soffer-Dudek, PhD, is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where she heads the “Consciousness and Psychopathology” lab. She is also a licensed clinical psychologist. Prof. Soffer-Dudek served as the first and founding president of the International Society for Maladaptive Daydreaming (ISMD) and as the scientific director of the International Consortium for Maladaptive Daydreaming Research (ICMDR). She has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers and chapters on dreaming, daydreaming, and dissociative experiences.