COLLUSION AND ENTANGLEMENT IN THE THERAPY OF A PATIENT WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES

Most therapists have only limited experience treating cases with multi ple personalities. They are, hence, vulnerable to a number of countert ransferential traps. Concentration on the personalities rather than un derlying conflicts can be one of these. Although therapist fascination and inexperience may be partly to blame, the inordinate manipulation of personalities by the therapist can sometimes serve to mask an uncon scious collusion with the patient's resistance to deal with focal issu es in therapy. In this account of therapy, the authors illustrate how this led to sabotage of therapy.