summary This article describes several instruments that can be used for the screening of dis-sociative symptoms. These instruments are the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES), the Dissociation Questionnaire (DIS-Q) and the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire 5- and 20-item version (SDQ). One of the advantages of the DIS-Q is that it originated in the Netherlands. The advantage of the des is that it contains fewer questions. Internationally the Dissociative Experience Scale is the most widely used measuring instrument. The SDQ 5- and 20 are used to screen for somatoform dissociative symptoms. So far, no instruments are available for determining the severity of a dissociative disorder. Dissociative disorders can generally be classified adequately on the basis of a clinical interview, but the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SCID-D) can be used if desired.