Roundtable Publishing Co. Description: This difficult-to-read book is by Theodore Jansma, a psychologist in
private practice in Grand Rapids, Michigan. No information is
provided on Katherine St. Clair; The book is written for a popular
audience. In 34 chapters the authors offer a tedious recapitulation
of treatment efforts with 230 personalities in a client who claims that
she had been raped by her family 20 years ago. The book contains
bits of poetry written by various personalities, who were to be fused into
one, magically, by the therapist. Discussion: The book will confuse readers as to which personality is talking and why. There is a theme of revenge and hatred that runs through both the client's statements and her poetry. No attempt is made to verify or corroborate the accounts of abuse, even though the behaviors alleged are bizarre and improbable. The client claims to have been raped and abused by her parents and grandfather, that she was part of a pornography ring, and that she had her vagina sown together. No one, however, was ever criminally charged. The book is replete with typing and reproduction errors. The reader is never told why the therapist did what he did. Many of the therapeutic techniques, such as hypnosis and regression, are questionable. There is no talk of planning for the future or helping the client to adjust to society. The whole flavor of the book can be summed up by one statement: "The basic rule-of-thumb appears to be: the more traumatic and the more ongoing the abuse, the greater the number of personality and personality fragments" (p. 249). This book is not recommended. Reviewed by LeRoy G. Schultz, Emeritus Professor of Social Work, West Virginia University.
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