FIRE AND WATER is a true account of discovery, validation, and healing from sexual and ritual abuse. A therapeutic memoir written from a Christian perspective about the emotional, physical, spiritual, and psychological aspects of coping with multiple personality and the reality of ritual abuse, it gives deep insight into the daily trials the couple face. It reads like a mystery novel with clues coming along a little at a time in an effort to solve the whole puzzle. It will become a practical companion for other multiples and their spouses while in recovery, as well as for others who struggle with issues of past trauma. It has marvelous momentum and narrative. Anna Thomas presents a very moving, very real, very powerful story revealed through frequent highlighted excerpts from a journal. Her writing is candid, transparent, and sincere all the way through. The title is inspired from a Bible verse from a dream the author believes was sent from God as a message of assurance. The title signifies the intensity of the struggles encountered. Fire: come through a spiritual darkness with my faith unscathed. Water: I did not drown in the heart-wrenching feelings and emotions.
What will you gain from reading this book? An understanding of the depth of despair, terror, rage, and self-hatred that comes from a childhood of ritual abuse. Realization of the need to face painful feelings in order to discover one's truth and one's past. To know what it is like to live with Dissociative Identity Disorder, both before and after one acknowledges one's other personalities. Recognition of the importance of being believed by one's therapist. A deep respect for ritual abuse survivors, for the horrors that they endured as children and that they must again face to heal. An appreciation for what a powerful soothing effect a compassionate partner can have, and the toll that this level of abuse takes on loved ones. An awareness of the enormous gift that a prior abuser bestows by validating a victim's abuse. A grasp of the value of artistic expression in self-discovery. A reverence for the central place of spiritual faith for healing from a childhood of ritual abuse.
~ Ellen Lacter, Ph.D., California licensed psychologist specializing in the treatment of dissociative disorders and ritual abuse trauma, and activist on behalf of victims (www.endritualabuse.org)
