ABSTRACT
The concept of psychical splitting begins with P. Janet. He introduced it to describe the presence of clinical phenomena that he attributed to an altered state of consciousness. According to Janet, Sigmund Freud, and E. Bleuler, splitting describes clinical phenomena which show that mental and physical aspects of the self have been fragmented and thus “split off”. The change of status from description to explanation is based on theoretical assumptions that depend on a specific type of interpretation of clinical phenomena. A. M. Sandler’s theory is based on his clinical work and has clinical value. Sandler thus makes a contribution, peripherally, to the vexed subject of the reality of memories of childhood sexual abuse. However, it is important to recognize that Sandler’s concept of repression belongs to clinical theory and not to the metapsychological theory as described by Freud.
