Phenomenological and evidence based research in ego state therapy: recognized and unrecognized successes and future directions.

The status of research in ego state therapy is examined against the backdrop of 20th and 21st century developments in the philosophy of science and the emerging recognition of the subjective as a vital element in all science. Attention is paid to the phenomenological method because until recently phenomenological studies have been the basis for the standards of care and training in ego state therapy as well as in many aspects of hypnotically facilitated psychotherapy. The importance of bringing an end to the "science wars" through the integration of the subjective and the objective, of phenomenological studies and evidence-based studies in ego state therapy and hypnosis research, is proposed.