Home

 The Human Essence

Charity

Subjects / Topics

Published Papers

Unpublished Papers

Glossary

Books

E-Books

Discussions / Blogs

About Dr. Allison

Published Papers

"Other Selves" Who Kill, Published Nov. 15-30, 2002 in Criminal Defense Weekly Online Magazine, Vol. 1, Issue 24.

"Criminals And Imaginary Companions"
Hypnos, Vol.28, No.3, December 2001, pp 201-206

Criminals who show "other selves" during forensic evaluations prior to trial are commonly thought to have either Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) or to be malingering. The view presented here is that such criminals could have created Internalized Imaginary Companions (IIC) due to anger at abusive parents in childhood. The IIC acted out violently in adulthood, causing the arrest. Anger management is needed, combining "cognitive restructuring" and a shamanic technique, called The Bottle Routine, to remove the "anger-energy" from such criminals. This can eliminate the IIC. Such an approach is also beneficial with angry alter-personalities.

"If In Doubt, Cast It Out?"
The Evolution of a Belief System Regarding Possession & Exorcism.  Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 19(2) 109-121, 2000.

The question of whether or not spirit possession exists, along with exorcism as its treatment, is explored. The evolution of a psychiatrist's belief system that initially rejected such concepts is followed over a 20-year period. He performed his first exorcism on a patient who appeared to have Multiple Personality Disorder. Subsequent patients manifested "lost souls", "evil demons" made by "emotional imagination," and Internalized Imaginary Companions. Exorcism seemed to be effective in ridding some of these patients with such products of emotional imagination.

"Multiple Personality Disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Internalized Imaginary Companions" Hypnos, 25(3): 125-133, 1998.  In DSM-IV, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) replaced Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD).  Review of both clinical and forensic cases over several decades supports a view that MPD is valid for a small group of patients who dissociated due to life-threatening trauma before age seven.  Correct diagnosis of those who used Emotional Imagination to create Internalized Imaginary Companions (IIC's) needs to occur, especially in forensic cases.  Examples are provided of cases which are Pure MPD, Pure DID, Pure IIC's, IIC's followed by MPD, IIC's followed by DID, and MPD followed by IIC's.  The MSD-IV criteria for DID are inadequate to differentiate IIC's from alter-personalities.

"Cognitive Interviewing: A Critical Evaluation" Newsletter of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 21(2):57-60, 1966. The CI technique is fraught with dangers, both to the witnesses and to the judicial system which needs facts, not imagination. The inventors included four possible induction mnemonics they recommend for use by policemen. CI will not improve the recall of traumatic events by witnesses who feel shame or guilt about such events. All they can be expected to do is fill in the blanks in their memory with stories they hope will satisfy the detective in charge of the interrogation.

"Essence Memory: A Preliminary Hypothesis" HYPNOS, 23(1):6-13, 1996. A memory process exists in each human being which operates parallel to that of the five senses and the central nervous system. This process is most clearly demonstrated by dissociators when the Essence operates as the Inner Self Helper (ISH) during psychotherapy. All humans have an Essence, which stores memories of all events in the Akashic Records in Thoughtspace. When the Essence of an individual deems it appropriate for that individual to remember any event, it may, with approval of its Supervisors, retrieve that memory and bring it to the consciousness of the individual. Unpleasant memories are stored in bits and pieces and coded for the level of emotional distress recall would cause that person. An intelligent, concerned evaluation is conducted by the supervisory Celestial Intelligent Energy (CIE) before any traumatic memory is released for recall. Their goal is to maintain the life and stability of the individual.

"Simple Dissociators in a Complex Prison" American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 17(2), 37-64, 1996. Recommendations for treatment of patients with dissociative disorders are not usually suitable for implementation with prison inmates. Simple suggestions are provided for treatment of simple dissociators in prison, based upon 13 years experience in a California prison. Four inmates/patients are described. One needed encouragement to go to school. The second one required assertiveness training. The third one responded to a variety of insight oriented psychotherapy in the state forensic hospital. The fourth one was able to cope with prison life after he agreed to a contract for proper behavior. Success depends on the psychiatrist's awareness of the total prison environment and ability to teach appropriate coping methods to such patients. The futility of trying to analyze the institution and expect it to change is discussed. The debate between working full-time and part-time is presented. The changing goals of the state prison system from Rehabilitation to Work to Punishment is described.

"Critical Issues: MPD & DID Should Be Used For Two Separate Groups of Dissociators" CANDID (California News of Dissociation and Identity Disorder), 3(3):4, 1995.

"To Be Or Not To Be, That Is The Question" Bulletin of Anomalous Experience, 4:7-8, 1993. Much of the debate about the stories told therapists of abduction by UFO's or Satanic Ritual Abuse in families may be the result of difficulties the therapists are having rather than the problems of the patient. Patients approach advertised professional therapists, expecting treatment for what ails them, and the therapists may have difficulty deciding what role to play. Their common choices are Shaman, forensic reporter, or detective. I suggest that it is impossible for one person to play all of these roles with one patient/client/suspect. Attempts to do so may have been responsible for much of the debate about whether the patient/client/suspect is telling "the truth." I should know, since I have tried to play all these roles myself, at one time or another, and I now realize the futility of such an unrealistic attempt to be so "flexible" in one's professional life. This is especially true when dealing with certain types of patients.

"Travel Log: In Search of Multiples in Moscow" American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 12:51-66, 1990

"Multiple Personality in the Workplace" American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 11:65-67, 1990. Anyone of you may become involved in a forensic case where the question may be, "Does the defendant have Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)?" My most recent case is an illustration of how five different doctors were pulled into this one case, each one having a different point of view.

"Sapping and Zapping" AASC Newsletter, 2:1-4, 1986. The practice of psychotherapy has never been considered to be a particularly hazardous profession. After all, what can happen while sitting in an easy chair discussing problems with a patient? But, in working with patients afflicted with multiple personality disorder (MPD), I eventually became aware that such a presumption is unwarranted. Aside from the physical wear and tear resulting from the long hours spent taking care of the crises that these patients always found themselves in and the professional distance they created between me and my colleagues I discovered that they, themselves, seemed quite capable of using psychic abilities to harm other living human beings. Usually the therapist was exempted from this harm, as he/she was needed and valued as a helper. But, as happens in all long term psychotherapy, the relationship can develop into one of disappointment, anger and intense hatred of the therapist when all does not go well in the view of the multiple. At those times, the therapist is just as likely to be a victim of these forces the MPD patients call sapping and zapping as have others in the past.

"Spiritual Helpers I Have Met" AASC Newsletter, 6:4-5, 1985, (Association for the Anthropological Study of Consciousness) The first patient met with the multiple personality disorder (MPD) entered my Santa Cruz, California office for psychiatric in early 1972. The diagnosis was made by the psychologist I called in for testing after she had been hospitalized following a suicide attempt. After her discharge from the hospital, she conducted an interview with her adversary alter-personality at home, taping the entire session. When I listened to the tape the next day, in addition to the voices of the primary personality of the patient and her antagonist, I heard the voice of a third entity who was trying to help my patient cope more competently with her problems. This voice I later identified as belonging to another entity previously unknown to the patient, an entity I eventually called the Inner Self Helper (ISH). Since that lady arrived on my doorstep, I have examined at least 60 other individuals who met my definition of the MPD. In most of those who have been seen in a treatment setting for some time, I have identified the ISH, who has been of great help in therapy. In those patients who were the most fragmented, other entities have spoken to me through the patient's body, entities which identified themselves as spirits who were there to help the patient cope with life and got the most out of therapy with me. It is this group of helpers, the ISH and what I call the "Higher Helpers," whom I describe in this paper.

"The Possession Syndrome on Trial" American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 6:46-56, 1985 In the last decade there has been a resurgence of interest in the emotional disorders characterized by the mental mechanism of dissociation, causative of such bewildering conditions as fugue states and multiple personality disorder (MPD). This area of mental illness has a long and controversial history, as it deals with that part of the mind which is both fascinating and terrifying to both the sufferer and observer. Therapists treating patients with clearly psychologically created entities, called alter-personalities, may also find themselves confronted with entities for which no internal cause can be discerned and which claim to be entities from outside the patient's mind. Thus, a differential diagnosis becomes necessary for practical reasons, as an alter-personality must be dealt with psychotherapeutically, and an invading spirit must be dealt with by spiritual means.

"Difficulties Diagnosing the Multiple Personality Syndrome in a Death Penalty Case" International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, 32:102-117, 1984 Abstract: The problems involved in diagnosing the multiple personality syndrome in a rape-murder suspect are illustrated by the case of Kenneth Bianchi and the Hillside Stranglings. Hypnotic investigations of his amnesia revealed "Steve," who admitted guilt for the rape-murders. "Billy" later emerged, claiming responsibility for thefts and forgeries. Attempts to evaluate Kenneth Bianchi with methods used in therapy yielded an original opinion that he was a multiple personality and legally insane. Later events showed the diagnosis to be in error. A new diagnosis was made of atypical dissociative disorder due to the effects of the examining methods themselves. Warning is given that it may be impossible to determine the correct diagnosis of a dissociating defendant in a death penalty case.

"Diagnosing Multiple Personalities with the Rorschach: A Confirmation," co-authored with E.E. & C.F. Wagner, Journal of Personality Assessment, 47:143-147, 1983. The Rorschach of an authenticated male multiple personality was presented. The protocol was found to conform to recently developed guidelines for diagnosing the syndrome with the Rorschach. The rationale behind the decision rules and the psychodynamics of multiplicity were discussed.

"The Multiple Personality Defendant in Court" American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 3:181-192, 1982-3. When a forensic psychiatrist determines that a defendant may have multiple personalities, a complex diagnostic workup faces both the psychiatrist and the defense attorney. A case report is presented in which the defendant was found guilty and sane under the ALI rule, in a case of assault and robbery, even after all three of his personalities testified in court. Recommendations are given regarding proper workup, recording of interviews, use of historical data, use of sodium amobarbital or hypnotic interviews and pleading mental incompetency to stand trial.

"Multiple Personality and Criminal Behavior" American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 2:32-38, 1981-2. The psychiatric disorder called multiple personality has been found to exist predominantly in females in a clinical population, but mainly in males in a criminal offender subpopulation. The mental mechanisms of defense of denial, repression, and dissociation are used by these individuals, leading to the formulation of hostile-acting alter-personalities. Because of a failure of control of the executive functions by a moral center, these persons violate society's laws, but have no conscious memory of the act. They therefore do not respond to the usual legal sanctions. Common findings in this histories and mental status examinations are presented. it is hoped that quicker identification and correct diagnosis of these violence-prone individuals can lead to appropriate legal and psychiatric approaches to the problems they present to society.

"A Rational Psychotherapy Plan for Multiplicity" Svensk Tidskrift for Hypnos, 3-4:9-16, 1978 The therapy plan can best be understood as being composed of eight intertwining stages, which usually occur in the order listed below: 1. Recognition of the existence of the alter-personalities; 2. Intellectual acceptance of having multiple personalities; 3. Coordination of alter-personalities; 4. Emotional acceptance of being multiple; 5. Elimination of Persecutors; 6. Psychological fusion; 7. Spiritual fusion; 8. Post-fusion experiences.

"On Discovering Multiplicity" Svensk Tidskrift for Hypnos, 2:44-8, 1978 Therefore, I wish to confine myself to those persons who become psychotherapy patients, or we would not see them, the ones who use denial, repression, and dissociation as preferred ways to deal with emotional stress. In this way, they create, in the unconscious mind, a disconnected focus of unacceptable feelings, attitudes, and behavior patterns which can come forth as a personality under proper stimuli to control the body. The basic personality or ego is amnesic for this period of loss of control, since the purpose is to allow for the acting out of unacceptable impulses. Usually childhood anger towards a loved one is the first such feeling handled in this way. Next comes sexual feelings, especially if mixed with fear and anger following a childhood rape or molestation. Thus a pattern is established, of creating alter-personalities to act in the patient's behalf, all while the patient is consciously unaware of what is being done. This pattern creates its own troubles and encourages more denial, repression and dissociation. This may seem to the child to be the only way to cope with the pathological family members, and indeed, it may be. However, the child grows up and enters adult life with job, family and social responsibilities. Now the defensive pattern grossly interferes with life, and the patient seeks therapy, hoping to find a way out of the self made hell.

"When the Psychic Glue Dissolves" Hynos-Nytt, 6: December 1977 The psychological disorder known as multiple personality occurs in persons with an extremely hysterical character disorder. Hysterics are those who predominantly use the defense mechanisms of repression, denial and dissociation. Any psychological trauma is so poorly tolerated that they unconsciously repress both memory and emotions relating to such events. They then wall these off from the rest of their consciousness, creating the nucleus for an alter-personality. If the trauma is extreme, such as a rape, one incident may be adequate to create an alter-personality whose interest is in manipulative sexual behavior. If the insult is minor, such as a disparaging remark about good grades in school, then it may take a long series of such insults to generate enough resentment and hurt feelings to energize an alter-personality.

"A Guide to Parents: How to Raise Your Daughter to Have Multiple Personalities" Family Therapy, Summer: 83-88, 1974 The following guidelines evolved from data revealed in the course of treatment of three women, each with multiple personalities. Two were treated personally by the author and the third was seen in consultation while under the care of another physician. Their stories are so remarkably similar in certain important.phpects that it was felt that we might now have some keys to just how parents, or even better, prospective parents, might raise their daughters so that they too can have more personalities than the girl next door. Seven guidelines have been developed, and will be illustrated by brief historical items from each case. When all seven principles are adhered to vigorously, it is almost a certainty that any daughter would have to develop multiple personalities to survive.

"A New Treatment Approach for Multiple Personalities" American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 17:15-32, 1974 This paper presents a review of the various treatments tried, and their apparent effectiveness, in the 14 year course of treatment by many therapists of a patient with five personalities. Effectiveness of treatment before and after the correct diagnosis was established are contrasted. Treatment modalities covered insulin shock, electro-convulsive shock, drugs. traditional psychotherapy, state hospital and community hospital milieu therapy, hypnotherapy, conjoint therapy, desensitization, and the Internal Dialogue. as discovered by the patient herself. The evolution of a treatment approach using one of the patient's personalities as a co-therapist is described.


 

  Copyright© 2024 - Ralph B. Allison