A brilliant, original, and beautifully written book…
Licensed Professional Counselor Caldwell’s outstanding debut takes readers on a dissociative identity disorder patient’s harrowing journey from devastation to recovery. When forty-four-year-old Joan met Caldwell, she was devastated: she had just lost her 11-year-old therapist, who, citing her inability to cope with Joan’s problems, refused to see her anymore. Married and a mother, Joan had a mental breakdown at age 32 and was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder) by her old therapist. Moved by Joan’s condition, Caldwell decided to take her as her patient. Joan had suffered relentless sexual abuse and maternal neglect throughout her childhood. During that time, 52 alternate personalities emerged to shield her from the traumatizing period. They created a safe world in her mind where she could hide from the pain of her everyday sufferings. It was a part of her past that Joan had no idea about, until she and Caldwell took a journey back to her childhood, unraveling the shocking, dark past. Written in the form of Caldwell’s first-person voice, interviews, Joan’s (alternate personalities’) voice, the narrative places readers directly into Joan’s mind, showing them scores of personalities, some of them known to Joan and others who are complete strangers even to her. There is Raven the Light Bearer, Shadowman the Persecutor, Beth the Messenger, Samantha the Sentinel, the Three Furies, Rose among others, and under Caldwell’s treatment, these alter-egos reveal Joan’s fascinating descent into a personal hell and her eventual ultimate recovery. The emergence of these individuals, who make themselves invisible on a regular basis so that a single person is presented to the world, makes for fascinating reading experience. The book is rich in detail: it takes readers directly into the therapy room with Caldwell and Joan, revealing the latter’s each setback and triumph. In doing so, it provides clarity into intricate dimensions of inner and outer lives of chronically traumatized patients like Joan, helping readers to empathically understand their suffering. Readers will not find an explanation of “why” and “how” the disease takes over but also compassion and empathy within the pages of this book. Therapists can apply the concepts and practical guidelines mentioned in the book into their complex clinical work. A book that should be read not only by patients and their loved ones but also clinicians working in the trauma field and interested researchers. Powerful, compelling, and authentic; a provocative read.
Raven and the Hummingbird
A Healing Path to Recovery from Multiple Personality Disorder
Renate F. Caldwell
Pub date August 15, 2022
ISBN 978-1737919926
Price $34.99 (USD) Hardcover, $25.99 softcover, $0.00 Kindle edition