| Abstract: | Phenomenological treatment of dissociative identity disorder involves (a) the demystification of dissociation, (b) the breakdown of amnesic barriers, and (c) the integration of alter conscious states. While standard treatment presupposes an understanding of the adaptive role of dissociation in mitigating childhood trauma, phenomenological method entails suspension of judgments about the patient's historical existence, bracketing of clinical theory, and cultivation of a neutralized as if consciousness. This strategy facilitates a therapist's ability to imaginatively enter and creatively fashion a resolution of the dissociative drama enacted by hypnotically susceptible patients. A case study exemplifies successful treatment of a notorious multiple personality for whom standard treatment was ineffective. |
