Multiple personality and altered ego states from a psychodynamic viewpoint

The author understands multiple personality as a special case of dissociation or altered state of consciousness characterized by a clear-cut separation of different ego states, which cannot coexist, but replace each other successively. Each of the Multiple Personality states is associated with a main archaic conflictual relationship with a key figure of early childhood. Some of the Multiple Personalities are very primitive and regressive, others are highly developed aspects of the person. The altered states are re-awakened by current life situations evoking feelings that associatively run parallel with the original interpersonal relationships and/or (traumatic) situations. Psychotherapy has to focus on the different ego aspects bg establishing therapeutic relations with all available "persons" within the transference, enabling an increasing understanding among the Multiple Personalities of the "other" persons and thus building an awareness of the needs of the other representations of the split self.