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The Flock: The Autobiography of a Multiple Personality
When Joan Frances Casey "awoke" on the ledge of a building ready to jump, she did not know how she had gotten there. And it wasn't the first time she had blanked out. She decided to give therapy another try. And after a few sessions, Lynn Wilson, an experienced psychiatric social worker, was shocked to discover that Joan had MPD--Multiple Personality Disorder. And as she c
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Amazing and compeling. A book you just can't put down, which i now have to say has joined my selective few 'favourite' books.
'The Flock' is a story about 24 seperate personalities,within the body of one woman, each with their own capable function or role to take over when another personality is unable to.
The story is told by "Renee" and delves mainly into the 'autonomous personalities' of Renee, Jo,Joan Frances and Missy. All of whom are fucntioning personalities who would be capable of their ow ...more
'The Flock' is a story about 24 seperate personalities,within the body of one woman, each with their own capable function or role to take over when another personality is unable to.
The story is told by "Renee" and delves mainly into the 'autonomous personalities' of Renee, Jo,Joan Frances and Missy. All of whom are fucntioning personalities who would be capable of their ow ...more
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Alas, boundary violations abound in this memoir of a psychotherapeutic journey! How does this occur? Let me count the ways! The therapist attends a client's housewarming party, involves her own husband in therapy, and invites her to live with them for the summer!
If I'm able to suspend my incredulity about the aforementioned, what remains is an amazing and beautiful story told by an alter of a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder, which was popularized ...more
If I'm able to suspend my incredulity about the aforementioned, what remains is an amazing and beautiful story told by an alter of a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder, which was popularized ...more
I was hoping for alot more with this book. After reading When Rabbit Howls and Sybil I think I was just expecting more. I did not like the style the author wrote this in. I had a very hard time believing it all to be true. I want to say that I am not sure if it is true or not just did not seem to be for me. I think this had alot to do with how it was written. It was a very fast read for me. The story had so many parts that it sounded like 10 differant books I have read all combined in one. Like
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This is an interesting and useful book in understanding multiple personality disorder (now referred to as "DID" Dissociative Identity Disorder). The strategies used for treating this young woman are extraordinary, however highly unlikely to be repeatable with another client. What this truly is about is the strength and courage of the young woman with MPD, her therapist and HER husband as they traverse the dangerous path toward healing. It speaks to the power of human beings when they dedicate th
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This book has been on my wish list for a very long time. Finally bought a copy.
Update:
I have read more than 3/4th but am bored now. It is not hard to read but after a while I began to get a bit bored because it was quite repetitive and I am also not so sure if it is all true even though first reading Sybil I was really believing all of it.
Maybe it is the way it is written, maybe I just do not like the people in this book but I do not want to waste my time anymore.
Update:
I have read more than 3/4th but am bored now. It is not hard to read but after a while I began to get a bit bored because it was quite repetitive and I am also not so sure if it is all true even though first reading Sybil I was really believing all of it.
Maybe it is the way it is written, maybe I just do not like the people in this book but I do not want to waste my time anymore.
I've talked to people who have been turned off by this book due to some of the subject matter, and while I agree that some parts are hard to read, this book will leave you feeling uplifted. Joan's struggles from infancy through adulthood, written in her own words, leave you first in shock, then full of hope. If she was able to go on living, then there is no doubt that the rest of us can too.
Author Casey (a pseudonym to protect her privacy) is/was a person with Multiple Personality Disorder, a disassociative disorder. Many people are familiar with the disorder from ‘The Three Faces of Eve’ or ‘Sybil’. This book is unique in that it tells the story of her treatment and integration from the POV of one of the personalities.
Joan Frances Casey was abused terribly when she was a child, both sexually by her father and physically and emotionally by her mother. Her personalities emerged to ...more
Joan Frances Casey was abused terribly when she was a child, both sexually by her father and physically and emotionally by her mother. Her personalities emerged to ...more
Feb 23, 2015
Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Shelves:
memoirs
,
not-up-to-standard
When reading this book I wondered how it was that the main character had access to her own case file. As a person with DiD myself, I can tell you it is Most Unusual to have access to one's own medical files, let alone notes from therapy sessions etc. A responsible therapist does protect confidentiality, but their notes are confidential for their own use, not the patient's and I doubt she would have been "willed" them, either.
I just have serious doubts about this "true story." Like some others, i ...more
this is the true story of a woman who lives with multiple personality disorder; much like several different people living in the same body. although clinical accounts are sometimes rather dry, this book was anything but, and takes you through Casey's day to day life, as well as her experience with a therapist who, after several years, manages to integrate her many drastically personalities.
I loved this book. It provided so much information, and a real look into the mind of a multiple. There was so much I didn't understand until I read this book (though there's certainly much much more I could still learn, and still much more I could never understand!) The ending was very sad though, but I was expecting something bad to happen all along, so...
I thought this was a sad but in the end hopeful book. That you got to sometimes work real hard to get rid of past demons. Never read a book like this before. So the story line was new to me, and learned more of this condition than I ever knew before. Of course she had a lot to overcome and she was able to express what she went through so well.
Very interesting book about a woman with DID, which developed from years of abuse from her parents. The descriptions of the various alters and their experiences in how they perceive the world was enlightening. The tales of her psychotherapeutic treatment are wrought with boundary violations and highly questionable techniques (i.e., "adopting") the client.
I am very much torn with my feelings about this book.
Firstly, I think it's great.
It is important to have people tell their stories of struggle in life, of their difficult lives, especially mental disorders. People, just regular people walking the streets, know too little about mental disorders in the world to understand other people's actions or emotions.
The story is told in great detail and what is important, there is a side to this book that I appreciate the most when reading memoirs of illne ...more
Firstly, I think it's great.
It is important to have people tell their stories of struggle in life, of their difficult lives, especially mental disorders. People, just regular people walking the streets, know too little about mental disorders in the world to understand other people's actions or emotions.
The story is told in great detail and what is important, there is a side to this book that I appreciate the most when reading memoirs of illne ...more
Read this for a class, was really impressed with this book. The true story of the main character's bout with D.I.D. is just amazing. Easy but very emotional read from cover to cover.
Overall I enjoyed this book because it really follows the client through the therapeutic process from start to "finish", allowing room for both incredible growth and predictable setbacks. Joan is a remarkable person with incredible strengths. Her system is interesting and easy to understand. But I simply cannot wrap my brain around the therapeutic relationship described in this book, let alone the lengths the therapist goes to to justify her choices.
(view spoiler)
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Joan Casey's story gives much hope and is beautifully written. Her therapist's unorthodox approach saved Joan's life; however, I wouldn't feel comfortable "adopting" a patient. The way the different personalities were explained as being distinct beings has helped me to approach my patients with DID in a more definitive way.
When the personalities began to communicate with each other, they began to see the world with more breadth: "Suddenly the world was filled with color, form and design that I h ...more
When the personalities began to communicate with each other, they began to see the world with more breadth: "Suddenly the world was filled with color, form and design that I h ...more
Facinating book! The best look into Multiple Personalities i have ever come across. Different personalities, with different name take on different roles in her life, one for studying, another for dating, some ever to just mediate between the others. Highly recommend!
Equally fascinating and thrilling as it is shocking and unsettling. One of the biographies I'm basing my final thesis on. I loved it and I think it gives a lot of insight into this rare psychological condition.
O livro é realmente fabuloso, muito bem escrito e envolvente. Descreve muito bem o tratamento da paciente e nos desperta para novas possibilidades da mente humana.
I wish there was more follow up after the integration. To be fully integrated as Joan became is a huge feat and I would have like to seen more about that and what it is like to live as a full person. I don't think Joan will ever be completely healed as the book implied. I guess for me it ended too neatly and clean, but the reality of DID is usually not neat and clean.
This is one of the most emotionally intense books I have ever read. What an awful and amazing story. There were times when it was uncomfortable and difficult to read, but I wanted to know how everything would turn out. This book is thought-provoking and inspiring.
Pretty mind-blowing, especially the part where one personality is writing notes in class at Harvard with one hand and another personality is also writing notes with the other
simultaneously
in a different handwriting.
This was an interesting book. I wasn't thrilled with the ending, but it was how it happened to the author ... works for some, not so much for others. I found the book fascinating, and the ending rather sad.
Three and a half stars. Great read and good study of what it was like for one therapist to treat a multiple. Less graphic than some other books about multiples and very informative.
Sep 05, 2008
Kristina Chomick
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Kristina by:
a professor
Shelves:
things-i-read-for-school
I read this book for a class because of the multiple personality aspect but it actually ended up being a really interesting read and would recommend it for general reading too.
Extremely interesting read - I couldn't put it down! The ending was a bit abrupt, but overall an excellent look at what is now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Wow. That was an interesting book. It was like Saks's The Center Cannot Hold without the reflection, just raw storytelling and selves-discovering.
This book was amazing! Brought tears to my eyes the last few pages. My heart goes out to Jo, and her two therapists. A story of a fight to survive!
Nov 08, 2013
Nancy
added it
This book gave me a great understanding of DID in a first-hand account, from the perspective of the woman and her therapist.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Anyone know their REAL Names? or know of furthur articles/info? | 3 | 17 | Nov 29, 2013 10:02PM |
“I get attached to people, but they have their own lives, their own problems, and really don't give a shit about anyone else. I knew that was true, and it didn't bother me most of the time. I had learned to be a friend without expecting anything in return. I had learned not to be surprised when people decided that I no longer fit into their lives. (14)”
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“I feel as though I can only hold it together if I don't worry too much about its falling apart. (288)”
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