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"Mosaic Mind" book review

Question:

here’s a freelance book review from me, a SA survivor… "The Mosaic Mind: Empowering the Tormented Selves of Child Abuse Survivors" by Regina Goulding and Richard Schwartz i LOVE this book! got it from library, thinking of buying it for myself. it’s not a self-help book, it’s kind of in between a self-help book and a psychological treatise. it presents everything in a very scientific way, but intersperses it wonderfully with journal writings of a person who was s*xually ab*sed. so it’s not too dry reading. :) anyway, it’s about something called the "Internal Family System." basically it says that *everyone* has multiple personalities, and *everyone* dissociates. the book says that there’s a "continuum" from simple daydreaming all the way up to non-integrated, completely separate multiple personalities. and that the goal is not integration, but rather finding the "Self" and then harmonizing all the "parts" to work with the Self. the book gives examples of how everyone has multiple personalities, such as: having an inner child, or a conscience, or simply an internal debate before making a decision, and how those things are perceived as "normal" so why shouldn’t *all* degrees of multiplicity be viewed the same? this book is helping me realize that while i have not been diagnosed with MPD (because i don’t have any of the "traditional" indicators such as missing time, or losing things, or going somewhere and forgetting how i got there) i DO have "parts" inside of me. such as at least 2 inner children who were present during the years of ab*se, one who i feel d*ed and "passed the baton" on to me (at age 17), and another one who ab*sed herself pretty badly in an attempt to "deny" that her f*ther was the one ab*sng her and blame it on herself. so it’s nice to know it’s natural to have different "parts," and while i don’t give them separate names and i don’t feel they are active right now, i do see that one of them plays a big role when i am having flashbacks (by making me want to h*rt myself now) and i write letters to that inner child, to comfort her and protect her. and so far i haven’t h*rt myself since i started doing that! **NOTE: you’d have to work with your therapist on this stuff, of course!! it could be harmful to some people to work on this by yourself.** but for anyone who wants to make sense of why they feel different "parts" inside them, such as having conflicting thoughts and inner "debates" … all the way up to anyone who has very separate and distinct personalities that "take over" the Self’s consciousness, this book covers it all. it gives lots of tips on how to harmonize the Internal Family System. also the journal entries by a person with a large family system, each with a name and distinct identity, are nice to read because it shows the internal struggles we *all* face while making decisions, it illustrates how the different parts/thoughts can work together as a "family." in addition, since so many of us lose our families because we come forward with the truth of the ab*se (as i lost mine), it is nice to have that sense of family internally, and to learn to comfort and nurture the child-parts. hope this amateur book review is helpful! i just wanted to share such a wonderful book with everyone :) karmagrrl http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/5966

Response:

I bought Mosaic Mind too, and I like it, when I can find time to read some of it…. However, you should note that dissociation should be thought of as more a typology rather than a continuum when it comes to normal daydreaming and DID. This is per research by Waller, Putnam and Carlson in Psychological Methods, 1996, where they found dissociation is not on a continuum ranging from daydreaming to DID. DID and DDNOS would have to be defined, therefore, as a dissociation that presents as a discontinuity in awareness. solicitude – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – "Mosaic Mind," says: basically it says that *everyone* has multiple personalities, and *everyone* dissociates. the book says that there’s a "continuum" from simple daydreaming all the way up to non-integrated, completely separate multiple personalities. and that the goal is not integration, but rather finding the "Self" and then harmonizing all the "parts" to work with the Self. Yes, I believe this is true. There is such a thing as normal dissociation. According to at least one source I’ve read, without dissociation, that is the ability to selectively experience, see, hear, etc. our surrounding, we’d never be able to learn or read or do a lot of stuff that requires creative selective attention. I also believe that everyone has many facets of their overall "self," with more or less rigid separations between them. I broke down all the walls between the parts, but the parts are still there in cohesive but fluid forms. I believe this is probably true of everyone, but they are not aware of it. Heaven knows, most people aren’t aware of what color socks they’re wearing unless they look, let alone be familiar with the inner structure of their own minds. the book gives examples of how everyone has multiple personalities, such as: having an inner child, or a conscience, or simply an internal debate before making a decision, and how those things are perceived as "normal" so why shouldn’t *all* degrees of multiplicity be viewed the same? Other than the fact that folks very far "up" on the continuum have much more rigid and defined "walls" between parts, there’s no reason not to view the human psyche this way, IMHO. I’ve always viewd it this way, pretty much, and still do, particularly having known so many multiples and having worked through a mid-continuum dissociation disorder myself. this book is helping me realize that while i have not been diagnosed with MPD (because i don’t have any of the "traditional" indicators such as missing time, or losing things, or going somewhere and forgetting how i got there) Neither do I. Never did. Mid-continuum. Eventually, they will come up with a name for this middle-point dissociation where we have distinctive parts but not full-blown DID. [snip] Thanks for this post. I liked yakking about this. Just felt like talking, I guess :-) bonni —                   /   http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3059/  t r i n i t y   /      http://www.prairienet.org/~bonni/

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: Other than the fact that folks very far "up" on the continuum have much : more rigid and defined "walls" between parts, there’s no reason not to : view the human psyche this way, IMHO. I’ve always viewd it this way, : pretty much, and still do, particularly having known so many multiples : and having worked through a mid-continuum dissociation disorder myself. I do some pretty rigid separation between parts, but where there is some control, enough to use it for a coping technique. When controlled, dissociation is a tool, like the case of the actor mentioned in the .FAQ file. I have home and work heavily partitioned off but I don’t lose time though. I also partition based on drunk/sober where I do quite a job of emulating an Australian when drinking, as having an accent is an advantage in social situations. Affecting an accent is in itself somewhat dissociative, and I started the practice while in the Navy, where people can get quite abusive. It’s true that nearly everyone is able to dissociate to some extent, and it’s taught in acting classes. In one class, it was described using the example of one’s daily commute in their car, a mild form indeed. The teacher never used the word "dissociation" as the word tends to scare off some people. — CAUTION: Email Spam Killer in use. Leave this line in your reply! 152680                      "A man’s car is his battleship" 438357 bytes of spam mail deleted.           http://www.wwa.com/~nospam/

Response:

"Mosaic Mind," says: basically it says that *everyone* has multiple personalities, and *everyone* dissociates. the book says that there’s a "continuum" from simple daydreaming all the way up to non-integrated, completely separate multiple personalities. and that the goal is not integration, but rather finding the "Self" and then harmonizing all the "parts" to work with the Self.

Yes, I believe this is true. There is such a thing as normal dissociation. According to at least one source I’ve read, without dissociation, that is the ability to selectively experience, see, hear, etc. our surrounding, we’d never be able to learn or read or do a lot of stuff that requires creative selective attention. I also believe that everyone has many facets of their overall "self," with more or less rigid separations between them. I broke down all the walls between the parts, but the parts are still there in cohesive but fluid forms. I believe this is probably true of everyone, but they are not aware of it. Heaven knows, most people aren’t aware of what color socks they’re wearing unless they look, let alone be familiar with the inner structure of their own minds. the book gives examples of how everyone has multiple personalities, such as: having an inner child, or a conscience, or simply an internal debate before making a decision, and how those things are perceived as "normal" so why shouldn’t *all* degrees of multiplicity be viewed the same?

Other than the fact that folks very far "up" on the continuum have much more rigid and defined "walls" between parts, there’s no reason not to view the human psyche this way, IMHO. I’ve always viewd it this way, pretty much, and still do, particularly having known so many multiples and having worked through a mid-continuum dissociation disorder myself. this book is helping me realize that while i have not been diagnosed with MPD (because i don’t have any of the "traditional" indicators such as missing time, or losing things, or going somewhere and forgetting how i got there)

Neither do I. Never did. Mid-continuum. Eventually, they will come up with a name for this middle-point dissociation where we have distinctive parts but not full-blown DID. [snip] Thanks for this post. I liked yakking about this. Just felt like talking, I guess :-) bonni —                   /   http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3059/  t r i n i t y   /      http://www.prairienet.org/~bonni/

Response:

thanks karmagrll! i liked this book,too.    mouse — For more information about this service, send e-mail to:

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solicitude, Could you explain this a little further for me? I have always believed about  the continuum from, maybe not daydreaming, but more like highway trance, to  DID. Another thing, I was thinking of something my brother had told me, about how  when he was put on Lithium for bipolar, he suddenly found that he could no  longer read fantasy fiction (like Tolkein) anymore. He still retains the  ability to read non-fiction, but can’t lose himself in that kind of fiction  anymore. When I read the post that mentioned losing yourself in a good book as  being a type of dissociation, I wondered if the Lithium had therefore had an  effect on dissociative ability. I’m now wondering if it might mean something  else Cequinnes (I used to post mainly under LeeLee, but the more I’ve learned about my parts,  the more I’ve realized I needed to change that) <<entire post requoted: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I bought Mosaic Mind too, and I like it, when I can find time to read some of it…. However, you should note that dissociation should be thought of as more a typology rather than a continuum when it comes to normal daydreaming and DID. This is per research by Waller, Putnam and Carlson in Psychological Methods, 1996, where they found dissociation is not on a continuum ranging from daydreaming to DID. DID and DDNOS would have to be defined, therefore, as a dissociation that presents as a discontinuity in awareness. solicitude "Mosaic Mind," says: basically it says that *everyone* has multiple personalities, and *everyone* dissociates. the book says that there’s a "continuum" from simple daydreaming all the way up to non-integrated, completely separate multiple personalities. and that the goal is not integration, but rather finding the "Self" and then harmonizing all the "parts" to work with the Self. Yes, I believe this is true. There is such a thing as normal dissociation. According to at least one source I’ve read, without dissociation, that is the ability to selectively experience, see, hear, etc. our surrounding, we’d never be able to learn or read or do a lot of stuff that requires creative selective attention. I also believe that everyone has many facets of their overall "self," with more or less rigid separations between them. I broke down all the walls between the parts, but the parts are still there in cohesive but fluid forms. I believe this is probably true of everyone, but they are not aware of it. Heaven knows, most people aren’t aware of what color socks they’re wearing unless they look, let alone be familiar with the inner structure of their own minds. the book gives examples of how everyone has multiple personalities, such as: having an inner child, or a conscience, or simply an internal debate before making a decision, and how those things are perceived as "normal" so why shouldn’t *all* degrees of multiplicity be viewed the same? Other than the fact that folks very far "up" on the continuum have much more rigid and defined "walls" between parts, there’s no reason not to view the human psyche this way, IMHO. I’ve always viewd it this way, pretty much, and still do, particularly having known so many multiples and having worked through a mid-continuum dissociation disorder myself. this book is helping me realize that while i have not been diagnosed with MPD (because i don’t have any of the "traditional" indicators such as missing time, or losing things, or going somewhere and forgetting how i got there) Neither do I. Never did. Mid-continuum. Eventually, they will come up with a name for this middle-point dissociation where we have distinctive parts but not full-blown DID. [snip] Thanks for this post. I liked yakking about this. Just felt like talking, I guess :-) bonni —                   /   http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3059/  t r i n i t y   /      http://www.prairienet.org/~bonni/

Response:

solicitude, Could you explain this a little further for me? I have always believed about  the continuum from, maybe not daydreaming, but more like highway trance, to  DID.

Pathological and nonpathological dissociation are two separate categories or types. The highway trance would probably fall into the absorption category which is the nonpathological type. The pathological type of dissocation would only include such as amnesia, depersonalization, derealization and the noniatrogenic creation of alters. Another thing, I was thinking of something my brother had told me, about how  when he was put on Lithium for bipolar, he suddenly found that he could no  longer read fantasy fiction (like Tolkein) anymore. He still retains the  ability to read non-fiction, but can’t lose himself in that kind of fiction  anymore. When I read the post that mentioned losing yourself in a good book as  being a type of dissociation, I wondered if the Lithium had therefore had an  effect on dissociative ability. I’m now wondering if it might mean something  else Cequinnes

Well I have heard some people say that lithium does have an effect on their creativity. And you are right about the connection, Cequinnes; that would be considered imaginative involvement. Again though this is the normal type of dissociation just like absorption of the highway trance. solicitude – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – (I used to post mainly under LeeLee, but the more I’ve learned about my parts,  the more I’ve realized I needed to change that) <<entire post requoted: I bought Mosaic Mind too, and I like it, when I can find time to read some of it…. However, you should note that dissociation should be thought of as more a typology rather than a continuum when it comes to normal daydreaming and DID. This is per research by Waller, Putnam and Carlson in Psychological Methods, 1996, where they found dissociation is not on a continuum ranging from daydreaming to DID. DID and DDNOS would have to be defined, therefore, as a dissociation that presents as a discontinuity in awareness. solicitude "Mosaic Mind," says: basically it says that *everyone* has multiple personalities, and *everyone* dissociates. the book says that there’s a "continuum" from simple daydreaming all the way up to non-integrated, completely separate multiple personalities. and that the goal is not integration, but rather finding the "Self" and then harmonizing all the "parts" to work with the Self. Yes, I believe this is true. There is such a thing as normal dissociation. According to at least one source I’ve read, without dissociation, that is the ability to selectively experience, see, hear, etc. our surrounding, we’d never be able to learn or read or do a lot of stuff that requires creative selective attention. I also believe that everyone has many facets of their overall "self," with more or less rigid separations between them. I broke down all the walls between the parts, but the parts are still there in cohesive but fluid forms. I believe this is probably true of everyone, but they are not aware of it. Heaven knows, most people aren’t aware of what color socks they’re wearing unless they look, let alone be familiar with the inner structure of their own minds. the book gives examples of how everyone has multiple personalities, such as: having an inner child, or a conscience, or simply an internal debate before making a decision, and how those things are perceived as "normal" so why shouldn’t *all* degrees of multiplicity be viewed the same? Other than the fact that folks very far "up" on the continuum have much more rigid and defined "walls" between parts, there’s no reason not to view the human psyche this way, IMHO. I’ve always viewd it this way, pretty much, and still do, particularly having known so many multiples and having worked through a mid-continuum dissociation disorder myself. this book is helping me realize that while i have not been diagnosed with MPD (because i don’t have any of the "traditional" indicators such as missing time, or losing things, or going somewhere and forgetting how i got there) Neither do I. Never did. Mid-continuum. Eventually, they will come up with a name for this middle-point dissociation where we have distinctive parts but not full-blown DID. [snip] Thanks for this post. I liked yakking about this. Just felt like talking, I guess :-) bonni —                   /   http://www.geocities.com/Athens/3059/  t r i n i t y   /      http://www.prairienet.org/~bonni/

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