no its not harmful----- WHEN DONE UNDER PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION ------

When memory states (alters, fragments, parts personalities means the same thing) are triggered out on purpose there is no guarantee which one out of five or more that you're going to get without a professional guiding the conversation to the memories contained in the memory state that is being looked for and called (triggered) out . DID doesn't work like "ok so and so its time for you to talk to me" kind of thing.

A situation that happened for me around this issue-

I came across this book called Silencing the Voices. As I was reading I came to the part where Jean Darby Cline's therapist was asking to talk to one of her alters. Well here I am, all night long trying to figure out why she and her therapist could do that and I couldn't. So many things would be so much simplier and easier if I gained this ability to call them out on demand. So anyway in the book Jean would relax and poof there's the right alter to talk to. so I put on my relaxation music, got comfortable as much as you can when you are trying something new and are a bit scared of the out come. Then said "OK katherine or mary come on out"----Nothing happened. What am I doing wrong? I kept at it and by moring I was tired and frustrated and deturmined to learn how to talk to my alters. I went to the library and after alot of research located Jean Darby Cline and emailed her. A day later I recieved an email back from her telling me how she did it. She used a focus point and totally relaxed herself simular to self hypnosis then her therapist asked her guiding questions and through those questions he asked to speak to the alter he needed to talk to. She said in order for that to happen she had to be VERY VERY relaxed and have total trust in her therapist. Those sessions where her therapist talked to her alters were at least an hour and a half long.

Through email with jean and practice I learned how to relax myself to that level of total relaxation but we (my therapist and I )never got the chance to use it before my therapist's therapy agency was forced to lay off many of their therapists due to government cutbacks. However my therapist and I had been working with triggers. Each memory state contains thier own information. We were keeping a chart of what my triggers are that results in my going into my la la land and my brain left to run on autopilot of memories. Then when there was a problem for example during a session and I was in a memory state I threw a table at my therapist. I have no memory of doing it but she knew what memory state I was in when it happened. the next session she needed me in that memory state so that she could make sure that I knew in that memory state that throwing tables was not acceptable. She knew that the memory state is a very angry memory of me at age 10. She knew the kinds of things that make me the slighted bit mad so she kept the topic centered on those topics no matter how hard I tried to avoid her. And I resisted because I was afrad a table would fly again. Finally she told me that both of us had to get past what happened otherwise we would be no good together. and the only way to do that was to put me back into that memory state so that she can make sure it never happens again. If she can get that promise while I am in that memory state then that situation won't ever happen when I am aware so we can get back to feeling safe with each other again. I knew she was right, she never steared me wrong before so I followed her lead and talked about the things that pissed me off and the next thing I know she's saying how you doing? Margo promised she would never throw a table again and she also got simular promises from me while I was in other memory states too. No table was ever thrown again aware nor unaware.

But like using self hypnosis, working triggers should NOT be done without professional supervision and help. So many things can go wrong if not done the right way.