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Product reviews for Ego State Therapy
American Journal Clinical Hypnosis
Emmerson's Ego State Therapy is the first book devoted to basic applications of Ego State Therapy to appear since the publication of John and Helen Watkins' Ego States: Theory and Therapy in 1997. As noted by John Watkins in the Foreword of this more recent book, Emmerson's experience has been drawn from his applications of this method with non-hospitalized private patients.
In Chapter One the author describes and defines the personality energy manifestations that are known as ego states, identifies their qualities, and deals with the question of their origins. He recounts some of the history of the creation of Ego State Therapy and differentiates it from other polypsychic systems such as Gestalt Therapy and Transactional Analysis. Unlike the Watkins and many other ego state therapists, he clearly defines introjects as being distinctly different from other ego states. He also delineates “Inner Strength” as being different from other ego states and describes some of these differences.
In ChapterTwo Emmerson introduces both non hypnotic and hypnotic methods for accessing ego states and supplies the reader with a rich roadmap for therapist interaction with ego states once they have been accessed. In so doing he enlivens the fundamentals of Ego State Therapy and maintains excellent focus on work with the internal family as a group from the inception of therapy. He places emphasis on the utilization of resistances and attempts to explain why some aspects of personality may be silent or choose not to speak. In this chapter he reviews his “Resistance Deepening” technique (Emmerson, 2000) and introduces his “Resistance Bridge” technique.
The third chapter takes the reader into Emmerson's view of how to work therapeutically with ego-states. He emphasizes trauma as causative of ego-state pathology. He clearly expects to find and work with trauma in all of his clinical work with ego state pathologies, and he directs his readers to his methods for doing this. According to Emmerson, abreactions are relatively common when doing ego state work. Like the Watkins, he believes that sufficient abreaction will extinguish post-traumatic symptoms. This chapter is enriched by explanation, direction, and dialogue devoted to helping the therapist increase understanding and communication with and among ego-states. Emmerson is a strong advocate of the individual (the greater personality) developing an ongoing awareness of his/her ego-states, and proposes a growing awareness as a path to personal development.
Chapter Four proposes to describe the domain of clinical applications of Ego State Therapy. In this chapter Emmerson describes ego state work in pain control, couples counseling, with depression and anger, panic attacks, and addictions. He gives detailed instructions for dealing with patients whose addictions and need for smoking cessation and diet control are ego-state driven. The population with which Emmerson is working is much like that described in Edelstein's (1981) portrayal in Trauma, Trance, and Transformation. Only three pages of this chapter are devoted to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Thus, he defines the scope of his book as one of working with less disturbed patients and with relationship problems. The author's work with couples is detailed and should be very helpful to ego state therapists who are interested in extending their work into this field.
Emmerson uses the fifth chapter to delineate the components of an Ego State Therapy session. He show's how the purpose of a session determines how it will proceed. He offers specific, detailed protocols for how to conduct sessions for trauma resolution, sessions to enhance internal communication among ego states, and sessions for the promotion of self-awareness and knowledge of strengths.
In Chapter Six, “Final Thoughts,” the author addresses the roles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CDT) and Ego State Therapy in the psychotherapeutic armamentarium and concludes that Ego State Therapy focuses on causes of problems while at the same time, like CBT, it is brief. He also deals (albeit briefly) with the problem of memory and its validity or lack thereof and offers some thoughts about “nature versus nurture” in the formation of ego states. He concludes this book with his observation that Ego State Therapy has wide clinical applicability, that it has grown and evolved since its inception in the mid-1970s, and that it seems to be poised for development in several areas.
Ego State Therapy is a book that will prove useful, especially to those who are starting in the field. It takes a clear and strong position that hypnosis training is essential for those who seek to do this work, and it offers much to any who wish to pursue an expansion of knowledge into Ego State Therapy. However, it does disappoint in the paucity of references offered (only 3 pages) and its failure to connect with and identify the abundant and creative ego state work that has taken place since the early 1980s by second and third generation ego state therapists.
The only members of this group mentioned are Beahrs (1982), Gainer (1993), Frederick and McNeal (1993) whose article on Inner Strength with ego states was improperly referenced as having been published in 1999, and Newey (1986). There is a dearth of recent references. For example, although couples therapy is presented (and quite well), the seminal article by Phillips and Toothman (1998) was not cited. Absent also are references to the works of Frederick on trauma and dissociation (working with malevolent and silent ego states, terminal illness and transpersonal issues); Hartman (children and Ericksonian approaches, gender issues); McNeal (trauma and dissociation, dreams, and EMDR); Morton (conscious-unconscious complementarity and ideodynamic healing); and Phillips (ego-strengthening, dissociation, PTSD and body-based approaches, mind-body healing). Also absent are any references to books dealing with Ego State Therapy (other than the Watkins') published within the past ten years. The major problem with these deficiencies is that it deprives the reader of available and useful pathways to expand further their understanding of what is a rich and complex form of hypnotically facilitated psychotherapy to which many have contributed over the past twenty-five years. In a certain sense this book can be regarded as being like an ego state that has not been integrated within the greater family.
Make no mistake about it, however. This is a good book. As a practical and helpful presentation of Ego State Therapy, Dr. Emmerson's book has much to offer. I have already recommended it, and will continue to do so. Ego State Therapy is quite readable, very sound, and eminently practical.
In Chapter One the author describes and defines the personality energy manifestations that are known as ego states, identifies their qualities, and deals with the question of their origins. He recounts some of the history of the creation of Ego State Therapy and differentiates it from other polypsychic systems such as Gestalt Therapy and Transactional Analysis. Unlike the Watkins and many other ego state therapists, he clearly defines introjects as being distinctly different from other ego states. He also delineates “Inner Strength” as being different from other ego states and describes some of these differences.
In ChapterTwo Emmerson introduces both non hypnotic and hypnotic methods for accessing ego states and supplies the reader with a rich roadmap for therapist interaction with ego states once they have been accessed. In so doing he enlivens the fundamentals of Ego State Therapy and maintains excellent focus on work with the internal family as a group from the inception of therapy. He places emphasis on the utilization of resistances and attempts to explain why some aspects of personality may be silent or choose not to speak. In this chapter he reviews his “Resistance Deepening” technique (Emmerson, 2000) and introduces his “Resistance Bridge” technique.
The third chapter takes the reader into Emmerson's view of how to work therapeutically with ego-states. He emphasizes trauma as causative of ego-state pathology. He clearly expects to find and work with trauma in all of his clinical work with ego state pathologies, and he directs his readers to his methods for doing this. According to Emmerson, abreactions are relatively common when doing ego state work. Like the Watkins, he believes that sufficient abreaction will extinguish post-traumatic symptoms. This chapter is enriched by explanation, direction, and dialogue devoted to helping the therapist increase understanding and communication with and among ego-states. Emmerson is a strong advocate of the individual (the greater personality) developing an ongoing awareness of his/her ego-states, and proposes a growing awareness as a path to personal development.
Chapter Four proposes to describe the domain of clinical applications of Ego State Therapy. In this chapter Emmerson describes ego state work in pain control, couples counseling, with depression and anger, panic attacks, and addictions. He gives detailed instructions for dealing with patients whose addictions and need for smoking cessation and diet control are ego-state driven. The population with which Emmerson is working is much like that described in Edelstein's (1981) portrayal in Trauma, Trance, and Transformation. Only three pages of this chapter are devoted to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Thus, he defines the scope of his book as one of working with less disturbed patients and with relationship problems. The author's work with couples is detailed and should be very helpful to ego state therapists who are interested in extending their work into this field.
Emmerson uses the fifth chapter to delineate the components of an Ego State Therapy session. He show's how the purpose of a session determines how it will proceed. He offers specific, detailed protocols for how to conduct sessions for trauma resolution, sessions to enhance internal communication among ego states, and sessions for the promotion of self-awareness and knowledge of strengths.
In Chapter Six, “Final Thoughts,” the author addresses the roles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CDT) and Ego State Therapy in the psychotherapeutic armamentarium and concludes that Ego State Therapy focuses on causes of problems while at the same time, like CBT, it is brief. He also deals (albeit briefly) with the problem of memory and its validity or lack thereof and offers some thoughts about “nature versus nurture” in the formation of ego states. He concludes this book with his observation that Ego State Therapy has wide clinical applicability, that it has grown and evolved since its inception in the mid-1970s, and that it seems to be poised for development in several areas.
Ego State Therapy is a book that will prove useful, especially to those who are starting in the field. It takes a clear and strong position that hypnosis training is essential for those who seek to do this work, and it offers much to any who wish to pursue an expansion of knowledge into Ego State Therapy. However, it does disappoint in the paucity of references offered (only 3 pages) and its failure to connect with and identify the abundant and creative ego state work that has taken place since the early 1980s by second and third generation ego state therapists.
The only members of this group mentioned are Beahrs (1982), Gainer (1993), Frederick and McNeal (1993) whose article on Inner Strength with ego states was improperly referenced as having been published in 1999, and Newey (1986). There is a dearth of recent references. For example, although couples therapy is presented (and quite well), the seminal article by Phillips and Toothman (1998) was not cited. Absent also are references to the works of Frederick on trauma and dissociation (working with malevolent and silent ego states, terminal illness and transpersonal issues); Hartman (children and Ericksonian approaches, gender issues); McNeal (trauma and dissociation, dreams, and EMDR); Morton (conscious-unconscious complementarity and ideodynamic healing); and Phillips (ego-strengthening, dissociation, PTSD and body-based approaches, mind-body healing). Also absent are any references to books dealing with Ego State Therapy (other than the Watkins') published within the past ten years. The major problem with these deficiencies is that it deprives the reader of available and useful pathways to expand further their understanding of what is a rich and complex form of hypnotically facilitated psychotherapy to which many have contributed over the past twenty-five years. In a certain sense this book can be regarded as being like an ego state that has not been integrated within the greater family.
Make no mistake about it, however. This is a good book. As a practical and helpful presentation of Ego State Therapy, Dr. Emmerson's book has much to offer. I have already recommended it, and will continue to do so. Ego State Therapy is quite readable, very sound, and eminently practical.
References
Toothman, D., & Phillips, M. (1998). Coming together: Working with couples from an Ego-State perspective. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 41(2), 174-190.
Claire Frederick, M.D., Harvard Medical School. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis
Oct 2003
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14/09/2004 01:00
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