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Rating: 
Summary: A wide-angle, insightful affirmation of our *many* selves
Review: I'm a human being, a recoverer from childhood trauma, a therapist, and a reader. This collection of essays by professional researchers of "the human condition" affirms for me a profound truth about all of us, and why we do what we do. These veteran authors' central theme is "multiplicity" - the little-acknowledged universal fact that our "minds" are naturally modular, routinely producing a range of subselves or subpersonalities that we experience as one "me". One profound implication is that "you and me" are two physical people - and also two *groups* of *selves* all interacting in complex ways, simultaneously, in ways we're only vaguely conscious of. Author/editors John Rowan and Mick Cooper have done lay people and professionals a great service by bringing together a group of articulate experts who weave a convincing meta-story affirming our *multiplicity* across theory, research, and practice. The implications of what they collectively say are - in my biased opinion - world-view shifting. If most people in our culture or world accepted that each of us is a *group* of people, without being *crazy* in the least - I suspect our society would shift dramatically, in many good ways. One of the many benefits of this book is the buffet of different articulate concepts that are spread before the reader. There is a unifying theme, but a rich diversity of background, perspective, conceptions, terminology, and enterpretations that empowers each reader to sample and construct our own belief about "multiplicity" and it's personal and social meaning. The content of this book, and the credibility of it's group of authors, has shifted how I think about myself, you, and our fellow Beings - even after 62 years of observing and mulling. The implications of what these wise people write are vast, and beyond summary here. I believe anyone - not just clinicians - with genuine interest in personal growth, behavior, and potential will significantly profit from reading this and related books like "Internal Family Systems Therapy", by Richard Schwartz. Another interesting, useful book is "Embracing Each Other", by psychologists Hal and Sidra Stone.
Rating:
Summary: A wide-angle, insightful affirmation of our *many* selves
Review: I'm a human being, a recoverer from childhood trauma, a therapist, and a reader. This collection of essays by professional researchers of "the human condition" affirms for me a profound truth about all of us, and why we do what we do. These veteran authors' central theme is "multiplicity" - the little-acknowledged universal fact that our "minds" are naturally modular, routinely producing a range of subselves or subpersonalities that we experience as one "me". One profound implication is that "you and me" are two physical people - and also two *groups* of *selves* all interacting in complex ways, simultaneously, in ways we're only vaguely conscious of. Author/editors John Rowan and Mick Cooper have done lay people and professionals a great service by bringing together a group of articulate experts who weave a convincing meta-story affirming our *multiplicity* across theory, research, and practice. The implications of what they collectively say are - in my biased opinion - world-view shifting. If most people in our culture or world accepted that each of us is a *group* of people, without being *crazy* in the least - I suspect our society would shift dramatically, in many good ways. One of the many benefits of this book is the buffet of different articulate concepts that are spread before the reader. There is a unifying theme, but a rich diversity of background, perspective, conceptions, terminology, and enterpretations that empowers each reader to sample and construct our own belief about "multiplicity" and it's personal and social meaning. The content of this book, and the credibility of it's group of authors, has shifted how I think about myself, you, and our fellow Beings - even after 62 years of observing and mulling. The implications of what these wise people write are vast, and beyond summary here. I believe anyone - not just clinicians - with genuine interest in personal growth, behavior, and potential will significantly profit from reading this and related books like "Internal Family Systems Therapy", by Richard Schwartz. Another interesting, useful book is "Embracing Each Other", by psychologists Hal and Sidra Stone.
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