Dissociation : Vol. 6, No. 2/3 (June/Sept. 1993)

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Dissociation : Vol. 6, No.2/3, p. 193-198 : Special treatment techniques to access the inner personality system of multiple personality disorder patients
(Ridgeview Institute and the International Society for the Study of Multiple Personality and Dissociation, 1993-06) Fraser, George A.
In dealing with the inner personality states in dissociative state disorders, it is necessary to be able to effectively establish a communication bridge between these states and the therapist. For the new therapist this may present a completely foreign concept in therapeutic dialogue. The idea of speaking for the first time with alter personality states may cause some apprehension. But the expectation that the therapist must be able to access the inner personalities may present a major problem that requires guidance for colleagues. Beginning with a few examples of accessing techniques in past centuries, current accessing methods used by most therapists are then discussed. These include formal hypnosis, self-hypnosis, guided imagery, and chemical inductions of trance states such as those induced by the use of sodium amytal. These accessing methods are overviewed with an example of a technique used by the author to illustrate the process of accessing inner personality states.