In NLP association and disassociation are characteristics of perceptual position.

Association is perception and experience as if one is inside the scene or experience being represented internally, whether that representation’s time location is in the past, present or future, and whether that representation is in any of the four perceptual positions. An associated state is one in which the person experiences the state as if immersed in it or surrounded by it.

Disassociation is perception and experience as if one is outside the scene being represented internally. A disassociated memory, for example, is one in which one can see oneself in the memory as if viewing it from the outside. Disassociated states do not have to include an image of oneself, but can have the quality of perceiving others in a non-identified way.