Beyond integration

the long version

Beyond Integration describes the challenges a former multiple faces after "the family inside" - the inner personalities created during childhood to cope in a violently abusive world - integrates. This is the first book to deal with therapy beyond integration. It is also unique in its presentation, alternating between the voices of the therapist, Doris Bryant, and the former multiple/former client, Judy Kessler. In this way, two perspectives on the different phases of therapy following integration are given. The book begins with Kessler's childhood story and proceeds through the process of integration, the three stages of post-integration, the recovery of lost developmental stages, and the development of new patterns of coping with ongoing issues. Kessler's personal experiences are interwoven with Bryant's responses, observations, and comments. Their insights are extremely valuable and often enlightening. Although this is the story of a single individual's triumph over multiple personality disorder, its elements apply to all multiples and their therapists, who will benefit from both the work that Kessler has done to reclaim her shattered self and her willingness to share the realities of a life irrevocably altered by abuse.