Summary

“Putting the Pieces Together: Self-Leadership” begins with a pair of quotes: one from the philosopher Rumi, suggesting the value of welcoming in every feeling and every experience, positive or negative; and one from a psychologist suggesting that a person has “as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize [that person] (279). Author van der Kolk then prologues this chapter with a story from his work with Mary, whom he diagnosed as experiencing dissociative identity disorder (DID), which he says was once referred to as multiple personality disorder.

In “Desperate Times Require Desperate Measures,” the author comments on how the different sides of an experience of a trauma can lead to different aspects of personality that come out at different times. He reiterates the idea that the process of recovery from trauma involves integrating all these parts along with all...