Shattered but Unbroken

'Amelia van der Merwe and Valerie Sinason have pulled together a stellar group of authors who bravely confront the fact that in the most industrialised nations in the world there persists the idea that systematic mistreatment of children, physical, sexual and emotional abuse, including infanticide, is normal, desirable and unquestioned. For a child to survive such experiences, as is now well known, dissociation is essential. Stories of survival fill these remarkable pages, together with vital mappings of the traumatic journeys that have been navigated by so many brave souls - individuals who have survived, who have questioned, and who have moved towards integration and a robust joyful valuing of self and others. Mental health professionals of every stripe will find this book invaluable.'-- Howard Steele, PhD, Professor of Psychology, New School for Social Research, New York City'This is a very important book. It demonstrates a passionate commitment to hearing the voices of people who are least likely to be heard, together with a depth of scholarship and debate across a number of disciplines. The contributors demonstrate the personal and intellectual courage to engage with subject materialthat is challenging. The implications of this book go far beyond the question of dissociative identity disorder itself; each chapter asks the reader to think about what is at stake in trying to understand and help people whose stories may be very difficult to hear, and to bear.'--Leslie Swartz, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa'A unique South African-British collaboration, this volume explores the most painful and devastating aspects of interpersonal violence. Dr. Amelia van der Merwe and Dr. Valerie Sinason, two outstanding traumatologists, have assembled a marvellous collection of essays, written by some of the world's leading experts, on such diverse topics as dissociative identity disorder, ritual abuse, and mind control. The distinguished contributors include Professor Richard Kluft, Dr. Phil Mollon, and Professor Onno van der Hart as well as numerous moving and, often, heart-wrenching testimonies from some wonderfully resilient survivors. While certain sceptics still doubt the realities of organised abuse, this book provides copious convincing evidence that, alas, human beings still have the capacity to perpetrate unbounded cruelty. Fortunately, the clinicians who have contributed to this book demonstrate that some human beings, by contrast, also possess the capacity to heal.'-Brett Kahr, Senior Fellow at the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships, in the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology, London, and, Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Psychotherapy and Mental Health at the Centre for Child Mental Health