I've recently been made aware that there are some people associated with this forum who have involved themselves in some sort of SRT, possibly combining it with Reiki, and also claiming to identify "alternate personalities" within themselves, AKA Dissociative Identity Disorder. This is a bit alarming for a number of reasons. Let me try to list some of my observations and experiences and conclusions which I hope will act as a "word to the wise."
Remember, a smart man learns from his mistakes, a genius learns from the mistakes of others. In the field called SRT, there wasn't a lot of material to learn from in the early days. William Baldwin's book was the main compendium out there, and he had studied older sources, finding only bits and pieces. So, when I encountered it, it seemed like a great new thing, so to say, another tool in the kit for "fighting evil".
Off I went into the fray with more arrogance than wisdom; I'm lucky I survived; I almost didn't.
The take-home message I finally understood was that, in a sense, SRT is a violation of free will. If a person gets "attached" it is usually because there is a frequency match between the individual - or some part of the individual - and the attaching entity, whether "dead dude" or elemental or demonic. If the entity is persuaded to leave, that doesn't change the individual's frequency; the only thing that can change the frequency is work on the self, by the self. That's the bottom line. And when a person thinks that "oh, it's easy, just do SRT and presto, problem solved!" they are much less inclined to do the very hard and painful work on the self. In a sense, you could say that the attaching entity is causing them the pain they COULD experience by choice, only with better ultimate results, i.e. changing their frequency, direction, and even reality.
So, essentially, when a person does SRT for another, they are violating the ultimate will of that individual to learn and grow and that has reciprocal effects on the person doing the SRT. It is as though you have placed some of your own essence/being into the place of the entity and thereafter, you are "in harness" with that individual. And if that individual is not doing work on themselves to change their frequency, then you can get pulled down with them. You probably won't match exactly, but enough damage can be done to bring about physical illness or other types of organic breakdown of your own system.
Now, all of the above is not to say that some individuals do not have a "gift" for doing SRT, shamanically, so to say. But the price they pay is usually pretty high if you follow their life trajectories, and according to what I have described above. They cannot, in any way, be considered "normal", and it is possible that their "talent" is a consequence of some past life influence, positive or negative. It could even be considered a "curse" that they must endure for a lifetime, however short it is, in order to pay for some serious lapse in other times and places. What could be worse than to be fated to have chunks of your energy taken away and stuffed in the psychic wounds of individuals who don't have the will or desire to do their own work? And after you clean them up and get them all "bandaged", they go out and play in the dirt again and again (as they will and do)?
Some thought should be given to DID, also. What if a so-called "entity" is simply a part of a fragmented personality? What are you doing but amputating parts of an individual if you seek to dismiss that part? And what goes in its place? Part of you, again, and you become fragmented yourself.
In general, the Work as Gurdjieff conceived it was designed to assist people in overcoming their mild dissociations which we can better understand by reading Martha Stout's book "The Myth of Sanity". The book is about more severe cases that may be very resistant to healing, but my point is that she does talk about the more ordinary dissociations to which everyone is heir at one time or another.
If a person's dissociated selves are mild and ordinary, there is a good possibility that they can "become one" within themselves via work on the self as we have developed it here utilizing many sources and guided by the Cs. A person who has more severe dissociation, as in actual DID, are most likely not suitable to do the Work, and cannot do it. Again, perhaps they are dealing with a karmic burden, an "infantile" spirit, or whatever; bottom line is, they just can't do the work and the most they can hope for is to try to achieve a modicum of normality as in striving to become a good obyvatal but possibly even that is out of reach. But striving is good as that is a form of working on the self.
Our policy here is that, if we encounter such individuals, we try to give them support and some guidance, but we know, realistically, that they cannot do the Work and, when the rubber hits the road, they will probably disintegrate even more. But, in the meantime, we do the best we can to help and guide even if we realize that no results - or very little - can be expected.
Now, as to the idea that one can use Reiki sessions as "SRT opportunities", well, considering all of the above, I think most of you will realize what a very bad idea that is. First of all, if a number of people are standing around with their hands on an individual and some one of the group is attempting to do SRT, it simply spreads around the responsibility for creating the "gap" that must be filled; so who is going to give a chunk of themselves to replace what is removed? Even worse, is it possible that there are gaps in other members of such a group that will create a fine new home for an entity that finds itself in discomfort? Yes, Reiki is supposed to protect against receiving back negative energies from a person being treated, but that is predicated on the idea that nothing is being "stirred up", and the only intent is to pass the life force to the individual. As most of you have guessed, in our reality, intent has its limitations and if you are intending one thing one way, and then another thing another way, what's going to happen? You can't have it both ways.
I think the above is enough of a "word to the wise".
It's best to not meddle with things you do not fully understand because you be crunchy and taste good with ketchup.