Varieties of Hypnotic Interventions in the Treatment of Multiple Personality

Abstract

Clinicians disagree as to whether hypnotic interventions have a place in the treatment of multiple personality. A review of the literature suggests that many cautions against the use of hypnosis may have been overstated. Data is presented detailing the role of hypnosis in the diagnosis and treatment of 69 of a series of 70 patients who achieved unification of their personalities. It is proposed that hypnotic interventions are usually benign and constructive when they are carefully integrated into a treatment approach, and that adverse effects follow the misuse rather than the use of hypnosis.