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The Allison Manifesto on MPD and DID
by
Ralph B. Allison,M.D.
E-mail: ralfalison@charter.net
Presented at The 7th European Congress of Hypnosis
Budaest, Hungary on August 17-24, 1996
The Allison Manifesto on MPD and DID
Copyright 1996 Ralph Allison
Primary Principles
1. Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is a real but rare
dissociative disorder. Alter-Personalities control the body
until integration. The Original Personality cannot have an
"identity disorder" since she is never in charge.
2. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is common but different
in clinical manifestation from MPD. The Original Personality is
in charge of the body except when Alter-Personalities take over.
Hence, the Original Personality does have an "identity
disorder."
3. Both MPD and DID patients will manifest Imaginary Playmates
that are misidentified as Alter-Personalities. Also, people
without dissociative tendencies can manifest Imaginary
Playmates. Such persons do not have a dissociative disorder.
Secondary Principles
1. Every human being has a bipartite mind, consisting of an
Emotional Self and an Intellectual Self. Essence is the
uncontaminated English term for the Intellectual Self. They
separate by a process called dissociation.
2. Artificial Dissociation of the Essence from the Emotional
Self can occur during hypnosis in highly hypnotizable
experimental subjects. This is how Hilgard found the Hidden
Observer (a synonym for Essence) in a few of his Stanford
undergraduates.
3. Dissociation occurred naturally in patients with MPD before
the age of seven, when they perceived a life threatening
situation. The Essences primary duty is to preserve the life of
the individual. Therefore it dissociates from the Emotional Self
when such a situation occurs. This is the first dissociation to
occur in a person who then develops MPD. Until age seven, the
childs mind is not mature enough to cope with such a danger
without needing to flee. Since physical flight is usually
impossible, she flees inside her mind.
4. To be able to have MPD, a person must be a Stanford Grade V+
hypnotizable person. In the family of a child with MPD, the
parents are polarized. From the childs point of view, the roles
of the parents are being reversed constantly. The child is the
sole target of abuse by the caretakers, and the other children
are treated fairly. Family secrets are implanted in the child
with MPD. This keeps the abuse ongoing.
5. In MPD, the first dissociation is the Essence separating
from the Emotional Self. The Essence then takes on the
assignment of Inner Self Helper (ISH), and the Emotional Self is
sent into hiding. The ISH makes all Alter-Personalities, the
first being one of many False Front Alter-Personalities. Then
others are made in this order: Persecutors, Helpers,
Identifiers, and Disabled. The ISH makes all Alter-Personalities
from the potential characteristics of the Original Personality.
Therefore, there is a limit to the number of Alter-Personalities
which can be made. When a client with MPD claims to have
hundreds of Alter-Personalities, most are Imaginary Playmates,
as the ISH has a limited supply of personality traits available.
The ISH cannot create more than 70 Alter-Personalities per
person.
6. Therapy is done only with Persecutor Alter-Personalities to
reform them into Helpers.
7. All of the reformed Persecutor Alter-Personalities are then
layered onto the Emotional Self. That process is called
Psychological Integration. Then the ISH reverts back to being
the Essence.
8. After the Emotional Self has gone through the same
experiences she did not handle while dissociated, the Essence
will reintegrate into her, in a process called Spiritual
Integration. This is the final healing step.
9. Dissociation also occurs naturally in DID patients, when they
have a need for protection from a perceived assault after the
age of seven. The personality is mature enough to stay in
executive control of the body. However, she has not learned to
protect herself from assault. The Essence makes
Alter-Personalities to protect the body.
10. In a person with DID, the Essence has not dissociated. A
small number of Alter-Personalities are created by dissociation
to deal with specific stressful situations. Therapy consists of
teaching the patient to handle these problems. This makes the
Alter-Personalities obsolete.
11. The Emotional Self makes the Imaginary Playmates out of
human feelings. Their behavior is unpredictable. They change
over time and are either inside or outside the physical body.
Imaginary Playmates do not have amnestic barriers as do
Alter-Personalities.
12. Imaginary Playmates can be used to exact revenge. In
contrast, Persecutor Alter-Personalities are angry at the actual
abusers, and they will focus that anger at them or others who
mimic their behavior.
13. Since Imaginary Playmates are made by the Emotional Self,
they must be destroyed by the Emotional Self.
14. Imaginary Playmates can be made by anyone. To confuse
imagination with dissociation causes understandable skepticism
regarding the dissociative process.
MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER
MPD
1. Age of onset: Before seventh birthday
2. Setting: Parental home
3. Reason: Physical survival after sexual, physical, and/or
emotional assault by primary caretaker(s)
4. First dissociated entity: Essence, in savior role of Inner
Self Helper (ISH)
5. Second dissociated entity: False-front alter-personality
designed by ISH to placate abuser(s)
6. Role of Original Personality: Abdicates executive control of
body until allowed out by ISH in therapy during adulthood
7. Patient who comes for therapy: Latest false-front
alter-personality
8. Types of alter-personalities: False-fronts, persecutors,
rescuers, handicapped, identifiers
9. Number of alter-personalities: Many -- 10 to 60 frequently
10. Suicide risk: High, frequently hospitalized for suicide
prevention
11. Therapy Plan: Outlined on page 205, Minds In Many Pieces
(1980), Allison & Schwarz
12. Role of ISH in therapy: Co-therapist
13: Major elements in therapy: Hypnotic age regression with
Abreaction, Reframing, Acceptance, & Discharge
14. Integration process: First Psychological Integration of all
alter-personalities into the Original Personality, then
Spiritual Integration of the Original Personality with the ISH
15. Likelihood of therapy being possible while incarcerated: None
DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER
DID
1. Age of onset: Age seven or older
2: Setting: Parental home, community, school
3. Reason: Need to protect self from an abuser; Birth
Personality unable to defend self
4. First dissociated entity: Defensive alter-personality
5. Second dissociated entity: Often none. If any, another
defensive alter-personality from another assault.
6. Role of Birth Personality: Stays in executive control of body
7. Patient who comes in for therapy: Birth Personality
8. Types of alter-personalities: Hostile protectors (from
beatings); Sexually aggressive ones (from rapes)
9. Number of alter-personalities: Few, frequently only one
10. Suicide risk: Low, unless incarcerated and feeling hopeless
& helpless
11. Therapy plan: Individualized, based on reason for creation
of the alter-personality
12. Role of ISH in therapy: None; No ISH exists, only the
patient's non-dissociated Essence
13. Major elements in therapy: Coping skill training to make the
alter-personality unnecessary in today's world (assertiveness
training, occupational training, supportive psychotherapy)
14. Integration process: As Birth Personality learns to do for
himself what the alter-personality has done for him since
childhood, alter-personality atrophies from disuse.
15. Likelihood of therapy being possible while incarcerated: Good
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