ABSTRACT
The Perceptual Theory of Dissociation has overwhelming and varied evidence supporting a psychological mechanism that produces dissociation. Resultantly, it provides a comprehensive understanding of the dissociative disorders, and applying the model to psychotherapy, yields a simple yet effective series of interventions for their treatment. Merleau-Ponty’s (1962) phenomenology of perception established ever-present perceptual constants called the “background,” which encompasses identity, mind, body, world and time, and map isomorphically to the dissociative disorders. When dissociating, attention hyperfocuses on a percept of “determining significance” and the background is involuntarily lost or blocked out. Counterintuitively, dissociative perceptual reactions do not occur in the domain of a perceived threat (i.e., dissociative reactions arise in different backgrounds than that of the experienced threat). The theory explains why dissociation is spontaneous and involuntary. Studies demonstrate that dissociation occurs in neutral, significant and positive situations. In contrast to what is widely accepted, dissociation is not always a defense, a coping strategy, a response to trauma, or a way to manage overwhelming experience. The theory predicts new dissociative phenomena, yielding consistent and validating results across qualitative, self-report and empirical research methods. The theory’s explanatory value for the dissociative disorders is explored.
