05-02-2005
Ego-State Therapy: An Overview
Helen H. Watkins
http://clinicalsocialwork.com/overview.html
Multiple personality disorder. The title of this article is Ego-State Therapy. By Helen H. Watkins. This article takes place in the University of Montana. This happened in the 1970’s and now. The who in this article is John G. Watkins also know as Jack, Weiss, Berne and Paul Federn. Helen H. Watkins wrote this article because Ego-state therapy is a psychodynamic approach in which techniques of group and family therapy are employed to resolve conflicts between various "ego states" that constitute a "family of self" within a single individual. Although covert ego states do not normally become overt except in true multiple personality, they are hypnotically activated and made accessible for contact and communication with the therapist. Any of the behavioral, cognitive, analytic, or humanistic techniques may then be employed in a kind of internal diplomacy. Some 20 years experience with this approach has demonstrated that complex psychodynamic problems can often be resolved in a relatively short time compared to more analytic therapies. Some of the things that was discussed are in approaching the theoretical concepts of ego-state therapy, it is worthwhile to underscore two processes that are cogent in the development of the human personality: integration and differentiation.
Through integration a child learns to put concepts together, such as dog and cat, and thus to build more complex units called animals. By differentiation the child separates general concepts into specific meaning, such as discriminating between "good doggies" and "bad doggies." Both processes are normal and adaptive. When this separating process become excessive and maladaptive, it is usually called "dissociation." Psychological processes do not exist on a rigid either/or basis. Anxiety, depression, and other affects lie on a continuum with lesser or greater degrees of intensity. So it is with differentiation-dissociation. Multiple personality disorder (MPD) represents that extreme and maladaptive end of the continuum that begins with normal differentiation. First, he believed that whether a physical or mental process was experienced as apart of the self (I or me) or as an object (he, she, or it) was determined by the nature of the energy (ego or object) that activated it. Second, Federn believed that the personality was not simply a collections of perceptions, cognitions, and affects, but that these organized into clusters or patterns, which he called ego states. An ego state may be defined as an organized system of behavior and experience whose elements are bound together by some common principle.
Hypnosis is both a focusing and dissociate process. Through hypnosis we can focus on one segment of personality and temporarily ablate or dissociate away other parts. Although multiple personalities are usually studied through hypnosis, they should be so diagnosed only when the ego states (also know as alters) can become overt spontaneously and when the main personality is generally amnesic to what occurs when the alter is overt and "executive." The relationship between the multiple personalities and ego states as found in normal individuals was demonstrated to us through post therapy reactions given by successfully treated patients with MPD. In these cases, functioning normally, dissociated entities no longer appeared spontaneously. Ego states that are cognitively dissociated from one another or have contradictory goals often develop conflicts with each other.
When they are highly energized and have rigid, impermeable boundaries, multiple personalities develop. However, many such conflicts appear between ego states that are only covert. These may be manifested by anxiety, depression, or any number of neurotic or somatic symptoms and maladaptive behaviors. Because the contending ego states do not appear spontaneously and overtly, they must generally be activated through hypnosis. We call this "ego-state therapy." The greatest need in psychotherapy today is to find ways of constructively changing maladaptive behavior more efficiently and in a shorter period of time. Ego-state therapy shows great promise in moving to that goal, where we can provide significant psychological help to more people with modest expenditures of time and cost.
When I read this article I was amazed that therapist can do some of the things they mentioned in this article.
Helen H. Watkins
http://clinicalsocialwork.com/overview.html
Multiple personality disorder. The title of this article is Ego-State Therapy. By Helen H. Watkins. This article takes place in the University of Montana. This happened in the 1970’s and now. The who in this article is John G. Watkins also know as Jack, Weiss, Berne and Paul Federn. Helen H. Watkins wrote this article because Ego-state therapy is a psychodynamic approach in which techniques of group and family therapy are employed to resolve conflicts between various "ego states" that constitute a "family of self" within a single individual. Although covert ego states do not normally become overt except in true multiple personality, they are hypnotically activated and made accessible for contact and communication with the therapist. Any of the behavioral, cognitive, analytic, or humanistic techniques may then be employed in a kind of internal diplomacy. Some 20 years experience with this approach has demonstrated that complex psychodynamic problems can often be resolved in a relatively short time compared to more analytic therapies. Some of the things that was discussed are in approaching the theoretical concepts of ego-state therapy, it is worthwhile to underscore two processes that are cogent in the development of the human personality: integration and differentiation.
Through integration a child learns to put concepts together, such as dog and cat, and thus to build more complex units called animals. By differentiation the child separates general concepts into specific meaning, such as discriminating between "good doggies" and "bad doggies." Both processes are normal and adaptive. When this separating process become excessive and maladaptive, it is usually called "dissociation." Psychological processes do not exist on a rigid either/or basis. Anxiety, depression, and other affects lie on a continuum with lesser or greater degrees of intensity. So it is with differentiation-dissociation. Multiple personality disorder (MPD) represents that extreme and maladaptive end of the continuum that begins with normal differentiation. First, he believed that whether a physical or mental process was experienced as apart of the self (I or me) or as an object (he, she, or it) was determined by the nature of the energy (ego or object) that activated it. Second, Federn believed that the personality was not simply a collections of perceptions, cognitions, and affects, but that these organized into clusters or patterns, which he called ego states. An ego state may be defined as an organized system of behavior and experience whose elements are bound together by some common principle.
Hypnosis is both a focusing and dissociate process. Through hypnosis we can focus on one segment of personality and temporarily ablate or dissociate away other parts. Although multiple personalities are usually studied through hypnosis, they should be so diagnosed only when the ego states (also know as alters) can become overt spontaneously and when the main personality is generally amnesic to what occurs when the alter is overt and "executive." The relationship between the multiple personalities and ego states as found in normal individuals was demonstrated to us through post therapy reactions given by successfully treated patients with MPD. In these cases, functioning normally, dissociated entities no longer appeared spontaneously. Ego states that are cognitively dissociated from one another or have contradictory goals often develop conflicts with each other.
When they are highly energized and have rigid, impermeable boundaries, multiple personalities develop. However, many such conflicts appear between ego states that are only covert. These may be manifested by anxiety, depression, or any number of neurotic or somatic symptoms and maladaptive behaviors. Because the contending ego states do not appear spontaneously and overtly, they must generally be activated through hypnosis. We call this "ego-state therapy." The greatest need in psychotherapy today is to find ways of constructively changing maladaptive behavior more efficiently and in a shorter period of time. Ego-state therapy shows great promise in moving to that goal, where we can provide significant psychological help to more people with modest expenditures of time and cost.
When I read this article I was amazed that therapist can do some of the things they mentioned in this article.
posted by wannita at 6:33 PM
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