The Metaphor of Dissociation: Teleological, Phenomenological, Structural, Dynamical

Dissociation as used in psychology and psychiatry is a troubled conceptual metaphor. The main problems include conflicting definitions and a lack of internal consistency of some of these formulations. Trying to mend the situation, Van der Hart, Nijenhuis and Steele (2006) revisited Janet's original definition of dissociation, and referred to it as "structural dissociation of the personality". This term is not meant to suggest that "structural dissociation" involves a particular kind of dissociation as is sometimes thought. To prevent or repair further misunderstanding, in the present article I highlight four inherent features of dissociation of the personality: teleological, phenomenological, structural, and dynamical. The article alsoaims to bridge some metaphors that are commonly described and understood as dichotomies, implying dualisms that plague philosophy, science, and clinical practice. For example, personality is understood as an organism-environment system, involving subjects and "objects" (that may be other subjects) as co-dependent and co-constitutive partners. Regarding matter (brain/body) and mind as attributes of one substance reflects an attempt to avoid the problems of philosophical (substance) dualism, as well as the one-sidedness of philosophical materialism and idealism. The generation, maintenance, and elaboration ofdissociation is analyzed in terms of causing, that is, the mutual manifestation of a network of reciprocal powers. The joint analyses involve an enactive approach to life, and intend to achieve further conceptual clarity and consistency of the metaphor of dissociation.

Synthesis and Realization (Personification and Presentification): The Psychological Process of Integration of Traumatic Memories in EMDR Psychotherapy

The theory of the structural dissociation of the personality proposes a precise description of the psychological phenomena involved in the integration of traumatic memories. According to this theory, memories are successfully integrated in a narrative—that is, stored in an adaptive memory network—when there has been synthesis of the different elements (affects, cognitions, images, sensorimotor reactions, behaviors) for each moment of a particular event, and when realization has occurred. Realization implies personification and presentification. Personification is the ability individuals have to feel that they have experienced (traumatic) events. Presentification is the ability to realize that the event took place in the past and is over now. In this article we present these concepts and how they relate to eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) psychotherapy and its underlying hypothesis of adaptive information processing. The article describes how EMDR therapists can use these concepts to better understand the reprocessing of their clients and possible blocking of this reprocessing. Understanding the concepts of synthesis, personification, and presentification makes it possible for EMDR therapists to choose the specific supportive interventions and cognitive interweaves that will best support the adaptive information processing. Such psychological phenomena should attract more attention in the future in EMDR clinical research and practice.