Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation

by Janina Fisher

Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors integrates a neurobiologically informed understanding of trauma, dissociation, and attachment with a practical approach to treatment, all communicated in straightforward language accessible to both client and therapist. Readers will be exposed to a model that emphasizes "resolution"—a transformation in the relationship to one’s self, replacing shame, self-loathing, and assumptions of guilt with compassionate acceptance. Its unique interventions have been adapted from a number of cutting-edge therapeutic approaches, including Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, mindfulness-based therapies, and clinical hypnosis. Readers will close the pages of Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors with a solid grasp of therapeutic approaches to traumatic attachment, working with undiagnosed dissociative symptoms and disorders, integrating "right brain-to-right brain" treatment methods, and much more. Most of all, they will come away with tools for helping clients create an internal sense of safety and compassionate connection to even their most dis-owned selves.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Self Help, Counselling, Audiobook, Health

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is transformative. It's not an easy read and may be a slog for those who don't have a background in trauma, but boy, is it ever worth the read. The idea at the centre of her book, that instead of leaning into integration, we need to lean into dissociation, is revolutionary. And it is by doing just that that we can help people heal. We need to welcome all the parts back to their home, and make sure there is a grown up there to embrace them, hold them, and see them through. With that, you can rebuild humans who have been ravaged by early maltreatment and abuse. Bravo Janina Fisher. This work is a masterpiece.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous text that provides practical skills for working with clients with trauma and dissociation (though I suspect non-dissociative clients may also benefit from parts of this intervention too). I very much appreciate the respect Fisher cultivates for the client's own resources, self-compassion and autonomy. Fisher deeply understand this population, and I am honoured to be able to incorporate her wisdom and expertise into my own clinical practice.

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book resonated with me and provided many insights on what is going on inside a person struggling with fragmented parts of himself. It's like a barrier between you and the world, then a barrier within yourself that you try to overcome so you could function well, and so much more. I first tried a sample of its eBook and I found out that it had depth in a way that it spoke from what the person feels from the inside out which, unfortunately, is often being minimized or misunderstood. I bought the book eventually, and I must say, whether you are managing on your own or being assisted, it's a treasure to have.

[Reba · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just reread this book in July 2022, two and a bit years since my first reading. Last time, I was a bit disappointed and found it pathologizing at times. However, having read many books on therapy over the last several years, I’ve come to the conclusion that I find most therapy books patholgizing to some degree (including ones I absolutely love, as I have come to with Healing The Fragmented Selves), which I ascribe to the binary labelling of ‘mentally ill’ vs ‘mentally healthy’ and the lack of systemic awareness as it relates to wellbeing and how we conceptualise of mental/emotional distress and trauma.

I appreciate the contribution Janina Fisher has made to the field of parts work in looking our younger selves in relation to the sympathetic nervous system responses (fight/flight/freeze/fawn - although I’m not sure if fawn is technically an SNS response). I had earlier come across this approach in the Pete Walker’s well-known book, Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving. However, Janina offers a much deeper dive into this approach.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, comprehensive introduction to the topic. It raised a lot of questions for me, too. I've read other books on trauma, but this was the most triggering read for me as someone who deals with these issues. If that applies to you, go slow and be gentle with yourself.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a self-help book but rather aimed at mental health providers. This was recommended to me by my therapist so I could understand the concept of internal self-alienation and strategies to mitigate. The title is very gnarly, but the concepts in the book are relevant both to folks who have experienced intense / disturbing trauma as well as to folks who might be dealing with a more garden variety kind of trauma caused by an emotionally fraught childhood home life.

The book has been helpful for me personally so far. But also - wish this had been available to me when I was an educator, especially when I was working in a high-trauma community. I wish these concepts were available to all caretakers and people in social work fields such as education.

The concepts in this book overlap/integrate with more well-known concepts such as attachment theory and mindfulness, so it is not as intimidating as the title suggests. The writing is also very friendly.


This is an academic book that costs big bucks. I was able to get it through interlibrary loan!

[Titplum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is truly enlightening. It brings an original view on trauma and what happens inside. The more I read and the more I identified with the author's ideas. I've been struggling with my demons for a long time and this book gave me hope that there is something I can do to improve the situation.
It would be best to work on it with a therapeut who is familiarized with this concept but unfortunately they aren't easy to find depending on where you live.
Regardless, I'll try by myself.
I really recommend this book. It's very helpful.

[Nixi92 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una guida fondamentale per lavorare con i disturbi dissociativi e le parti del sé dissociate. Personalmente, mi è stato molto d'aiuto nella mia pratica clinica.

[Jenny Ching · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for not only health professionals but also the bureaucrats in charge of allocating funding and resources. The mainstream mental health system needs to open itself up to the groundbreaking and evidence based tsunami of information coming out showing that interpersonal trauma is a major contributor to physical illnesses and mental distress of all types.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic text. I wouldn't say this lightly, but I think this book will change my life.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is long and intense, especially since it’s written for mental health professionals. If you have some background with IFS or parts work that will help when tackling this in depth work.

That being said, this book is fascinating and encouraging, and you may even find yourself identifying with some of the client stories JF presents. It can be truly heart wrenching to realize you share traits with some of the clients portrayed in this book, especially if you find yourself missing large chunks of time or having little to no memories of your childhood. It can feel hopeless to dissociate and feel numb, depressed, or like you are just a passenger riding along in the backseat of your own life. But if you are prone to dissociation, or have even been diagnosed with BPD or DID, this book offers a ray of hope.

JF does an excellent job of telling client stories in a way that is not scary and does not cast blame/shame on the parts. Although there is some pathology talk (because DID is very real and can be difficult to treat) it does not feel overwhelming, but instead gives clear examples of learning how to integrate after splitting or learning how to separate parts when you are enmeshed. It’s no doubt a long journey to get to a place of body safety and awareness of parts, but JF gives so much detail and includes appendices for parts work that I came out of this book feeling like there are answers to long asked questions.

I would recommend this to readers who are familiar with IFS, EMDR, Brainspotting, C-PTSD, DID, etc. It is a good companion text to have on hand when doing parts work.

[angela]

i picked this up as it’s included in the “further reading” section of tara westover’s Educated, and the title struck a chord. provides an accessible and compassionate framework for adults healing from childhood trauma.

[lala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow it took me a long time to finish this as an audiobook! It took a while to get used to the writing style, it definitely required my extensive background in trauma work and studies to understand, and was very flowy. It was written in a very run-on sentence, flowy, dense way. I got very triggered at times because there was not enough concrete information on ways parts work can be done wrong, and when to differentiate between when a part is upset and when an adult self is upset by something valid and present. Parts work can easily be used to force someone to dissociate, and to easily manipulate them in extreme ways, force them to hallucinate and disconnect them from themselves. Like so many psych frameworks, cis white women with privilege focus on people who had traumatic childhoods but nothing to fear in adulthood. Additionally, this long yet highly introductory text didn’t connect this framework enough with other popular alternative trauma frameworks- namely codependency. What could be argued as codependent re-enactments of trauma got framed as “strengths” in this book- being a savior for many and not knowing why. I did appreciate the focus on consent, staying out of the hospital, not pathologizing suicidality, and the strong emphasis on compassion. This was my first introduction to parts work and it all feels new but HIGHLY transformative and life changing, useful and a great way to conceptualize mindfulness, deep listening to oneself, a great way to navigate triggers, AND to implement utmost compassion. I felt like I was able to gain vocabulary and language that describes what has ALWAYS been intuitive and sensical to me my whole life- which I have only described as “triggers” and “emotional flashbacks.” This adds so much for dynamism, depth, dimension, and potentially for internal love, discovery, and dialogue. Perhaps because I listened to the audiobook and didn’t read the book, I feel like I didn’t gain enough insight and guidance to really know how to fully do this with myself yet. But I now identify as having DID because of this text and that has helped to explain a lot to me and my friends. So much more to learn.

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book.

Too busy to write a review.

Will try to get to it ASAP.

[Schuyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last paragraph of Fisher's book (albeit unintentionally) echoes Augustine's perception of God's interaction with time, which made an excellent indirect argument for how we image-bear in a way I hadn't thought of before. Neuroscience is developing a multi-consciousness approach to the brain which ties in with the idea of all times being present to God (and by extension us). Fisher's non-religious treatment of this approach provides excellent grounds for anyone working with multi-consciousness therapy, dissociative disorders, etc. and some interesting exploration in how trauma affects brain function. It's an academic read for mental health professionals but accessible to a rigorous casual reader.

[Shelley Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book on the reality of working with trauma survivors. Highly recommend it. My professional experience working with many people who struggle with these issues is consistent with her approach on what is helpful and what is not helpful....

[Jeff Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone living with DID or alongside someone who is, this book is amazing.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life-changing and, for me, way better than a self-help book because it is so rooted in science and research. So much makes more sense to me now!

[Mehrnaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

مهم‌ترین و بهترین آموزش این کتاب برای من، در خصوص عدم نیاز به دوباره زیستن تراما چه در اتاق درمان و چه به صورت شخصی‌بود. نویسنده اصرار منطقی و قشنگی داره که تراما اونقدر ناخوشایند و بد بوده که باعث اثرات مخرب فعلی شده و حتی در پروسه‌‌ی درمان، دونستن تصویر کلی می‌تونه برا درمانگر کافی باشه و لزومی نداره مراجعه‌کننده چندین باره اون اتفاقات تجربه کنه تا درمان‌ بشه!

[Joshua Ehrsam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The body of research presented in this book provides valuable insight for anyone who suffered childhood trauma. If I were to suggest this book to another person, I would highlight two noteworthy impressions.
1. The ideas in this book can be helpful for victims of childhood trauma, but it does feel more geared to those suffering from extreme issues of DID and fragmentation, even up to individuals who are in institutional care.
2. This is not a traditional self help book. It is written from both a client and a therapist perspective. The ideas contained within are good starting points for clients, but should not be fully implemented without professional guidance. (As a footnote to statement number 2; I do not feel the healing techniques are in any way dangerous to self implement. I found the trauma responses discussed within to be highly nuanced, and using this book in conjunction with therapy will allow the reader to properly utilize its mental health benefits.)

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start off this review by stating that this book is not for everyone. This book is written more for mental health professionals rather than the general public. However, I still highly recommend this book if you or someone you care about deals with any sort of mental “fragmentation”. The most extreme version of this would be DID (previously known as multiple personality disorder) but many of us actually have some sort of fragmentation due to different traumas. While I didn’t “enjoy” reading this book as it’s pretty dry, I still found it very informative. I recommend!

[Authern Xu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author discusses in detail about how to integrate different parts of fragmented selves that a trauma survivor carries within their minds in order to survive complex childhood trauma. Throughout the book, Dr. Fisher also provides detailed examples of how to navigate the different parts of a client and how to interact with these parts to form a cohesive narrative for a survivor. A must read for survivors and practitioners alike.

[Jeremy Meadow · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best psychology books I’ve ever read. This book effectively explains both the human-perceived and neurobiological impacts of trauma, and walks the reader through what exercises to do using thinking, feeling, and observing to repair past trauma, while also describing the biological details of what is happening in the brain when these exercises are performed. I know this is a cliche line, but I truly hope I can look back and say “this book changed my life.”

[Kate Wester · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been immeasurably helpful in helping me integrate different approaches into my work with clients. Most notably somatic work, parts work, mindfulness and compassion focused therapy. My understanding of working with complex trauma and structural dissociation has taken a giant step thanks to this book!

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has really informed my practice when listening to clients who have survived child abuse. There is a practicality about it combined with compassion and understanding as well as a scholarly approach.

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about trauma and using and identifying parts of self. I love the exercises at the back of the book and have used them with many of my clients.

[Carolynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book introduced me to a new world of counseling and I'm already seeing improvements in how I work with my clients.

[Lore LongSoulSystem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introducing "language of parts". Probably very "threatening" to the classical psychological and old way to see the human mind with trauma related parts.
I'll use this many times.

Some might think this inclines clinical practice to iatrogenic practice but NO, STOP. This is only meant to be used (as it says) with people with trauma related parts, not the general population (duh!)

I enjoyed this. Though I think it felt short at times.

[Matt]

No rating – this is a book written for practicing therapists, and as a curious non-professional, it didn’t seem appropriate to attach a rating.

I did find this fascinating, though. Janina Fisher’s approach to trauma recovery builds on both the “body keeps the score” understanding of trauma pioneered by Bessel van der Kolk and internal family systems (IFS) therapy. I was unfamiliar with IFS before this, but I thought Fisher included sufficient information about it that I was able to understand without pausing to check Wikipedia.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely essential book

Of all the books I’ve read on parts work, this one is my bible. Janina really gets it. I’ve learned so much about my system. Understanding yourself is key to healing.