Customer Reviews

Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

After catching the last 10 minutes of Dr. Baer's interview on NPR's Talk of the Nation, I had to hear more, so I listened to the entire interview online. I surfed over to Amazon as I was listening and bought the book immediately. I began reading the book as soon as it arrived in the mail, and absolutely could not put it down, only stopping to sleep after I just couldn't keep my eyes pried open any longer. It is by turns a horrific tale of abuse, a fascinating examination of the human psyche, and a doctor who cared enough about another human being to help regardless of the time or cost.

As a mother of small children, it was particuarly difficult to read about Karen's abuse, but it was never presented in an exploitative manner. As much as I would like to think otherwise, child abuse of this nature continues, and I hope that this story helps others suffering as Karen did. It has opened my eyes to the clues that children give us when they need help.

It was also interesting to hear the doctor's point of view, as I've often wondered what goes on in a therapist's mind...Thank you, Karen and Dr. Baer, for sharing this incredible story.

I was skeptical that such a thng as multiple personality disorder even existed. After reading Switching Time, I am not only convinced, but am in awe of the complexity of the human ability to cope with horrific abuse. This is a beautifully written journey: but not just the journey of Karen, the woman with 17 personalities, but of the Psychiatrist who diagnosed it, and ultimately reintegrated her into one functional being. This is a stunning , must- read book.Every word of it is true, but it reads like a novel. Don't start it unless you have time to keep going. I guarantee you won't want to put it down.

I bought this book for my wife who usually likes reading about such subjects, but I will admit that the publisher's summary did intrest me enough to read the first chapter. After that I was hooked, and had to force myself to put it down to get enough sleep for work the next day.

I thought that knowing that she has 17 personalities would ruin any suspense of the story, but I was mistakened. Learning how they function, and how and when they were "born" was facinating. Not being schooled in psychology, I have only a layman's understanding of this disorder, and I was blown away to learn how the 'aters' interacted within Karen's subconscience and what purposes they served when they revealed themselves.

The horror that Karen suffered which brought on the personalities was equally as facinating as it was sad. I guess on a certail level I knew that the things described in this book can and do happen, but to read about them happening and especially happening to a young girl, made me cringe.

This story in this book is strong enough to appeal to anyone and the detail of the disorder is well written enough to keep someone with a PhD in psychology entranced. I have never read a story like it. If you are at all interested in this book after reading the publisher's tag, then you will not be disappointed.

I wish there were more stars, I don't think 5 is enough.

As a forensic handwriting expert, I was first attracted to Dr. Baer's book because I was told it contained handwriting samples. I'm also interested in MPD, having worked on a couple of cases. But after starting to read Karen's story, the handwriting and drawings, while fascinating in themselves, became secondary. I truly could not put it down and have spent the last couple of days (while I should have been working!) trying to understand the world Karen created for herself.
There was no exploitation of the horrors she suffered, they were presented in a matter-of-fact manner that made them all the more horrible and made me wonder about all the children who are currently undergoing the same horrors. Hopefully, this story will raise awareness and perhaps result in helping to save someone from having to create a life lived in fragments.
Dr. Baer and Karen did a masterful job of putting together a massive amount of material accumulated over their 18 years of working together. The result reads like a novel--a horror story, yet with redemption. Maybe It should rather be compared to an epic, or a Greek Tragedy. It contains all those elements.
www.sheilalowe.com

Karma matched up Karen with Dr. Baer when his partner was unavailable and she was in desperate need of help. This book describes horrrific abuse (that word came to mind everytime I picked up the book) as it is truly sick what she was subjected to from her own father and grandfather. It's amazing, though, to see how the body will do whatever it takes to protect us from this type of evil.

As Dr. Baer and us, as readers, come to discover and meet each of Karen's alters and when and why they were born you begin to learn their function in protecting Karen as well as preventing her from becoming whole. Dr. Baer's dedication over 18 years of therapy, his unselfish willingness to devote his time at all hours to helping her through crisis and his caution in treating her is rare. As I said, karma brought them together.

As others have said, this book, although at times extremely disturbing, is wonderfully written and I too fell asleep on several nights because I couldn't put it down. There were several points where I couldn't help but cry, but there finally tears of joy when Karen was finally Karen. As if the 30+ years she lived with the abuse, depression, losing time, etc. weren't enough she is without a doubt one of the bravest people I have come to "know" by having her story told - if one child is saved it is worth it.

I have already recommended this book to several people. And this is rare for me. I will be reading this book again. It is that captivating.

I highly recommend.

Dr. Baer's book is one of the most informative books on MPD/DID I have ever had the opportunity to read. Not only is this book extremely interesting and easy to understand, it is groundbreaking.
This is one of the first, if not the first, book to ever detail the process by which a patient is cured of MPD. Dr. Baer dives right into uncharted territory in his treatment of Karen and her seventeen alternate personalities.
The abuse Karen went through is disturbing enough to be unbelievable. At the hands of her sadistic family, she coped with her pain in the only way she could, by creating alters who could deal with it. This book describes in detail interviews with Karen's alters and their explanations for why they were created in the first place.
I strongly urge anyone with any interest/experience with MPD to give this book a chance. It should be a must read for everyone in the mental health industry.

The case study of Karen and her 17 personalities makes for fascinating reading. She certainly would be the case of a lifetime for any psychiatrist, and she sounds like someone who has gone through more than anyone should have to bear, and you feel like she almost was lucky her mind made the personalities for her, or she probably would have been dead or totally dysfunctional. For the most part, the book is well written, and I was eager to read more and find out what happened next.

I did of course have the questions most people would probably have---is all this really true? Did she really have all those people inside her? Did she really suffer the Satanic-like abuse she tells of? I have no reason to doubt her, I guess, but I know memories can be altered in many ways and I do wonder if hers were somehow.

I also had questions about ego. The author certainly thinks well of himself. I guess you have to, as part of this kind of therapy, as so much seems to be about thinking that the client is developing feelings for you, or that a small word from you can really change things a huge amount. I did appreciate the fact he eventually stopped charging Karen.

I also wonder if it's really a usual thing to hear about physical abuse in a marriage and not make sure police are aware of it. I don't know all the laws involved, but that kept popping into my mind!

Overall, if you like reading about interesting psychological cases, this would probably be a book for you.

I don't know what the reason I bought this book. I was just surfing the net while listening to the news when I heard the title of the book and its story behind it. My attention went straight to the t.v. and tried to listen to what was left of what they were saying about the book. After that I quickly searched the title and made sure it was the right one. Reserved it on one of the local Borders and picked it up the next day.

When I started reading this book...I was amazed on what was going on with this person's life. How can a person lose time and not knowing what was going on. The one that hit me the most was the things that this lady has gone through when she was a kid. How can anyone be that evil to a girl. I guess it shows that its now always what it looks like.

I got attached to some of the alters when reading the book (I can't put the book down..i even fell asleep reading it). I started crying when one by one they integrate with Karen. Each Alter is like a real person...

This book made me think more about Multiple Personality Disorder or what they are called now as Dissociative Identity Disorder.

WOW -
Imagine pretending to be asleep in order to overhear conversations between your family and friends, so that you can learn your mother's name, or where your husband works. Karen was continually searching for ways to hide her obvious insanity until a desperate call to a crisis hot-line in 1989, led her to Dr. Richard Baer. The complexities of the human mind have never before been revealed with such detail, dimension and compassion. Horrific, unimaginable abuse had forced Karen to create different personalities, with widely varying characteristics and abilities. As new personalities were introduced, the depth of Karen's suffering became obvious, as did the fear that the darkness would consume her. With careful guidance and unwavering patience, Dr. Baer was able to gain the individual trust of the seventeen alters, convincing each that although they had been created to protect Karen, her very survival now depended upon their complete and total destruction.


This is an amazing read! The level of abuse, the detailed characteristics of the created alters are almost beyond comprehension and leads you to question how it is someone that has suffered so greatly could ever be whole again. Which is, yet another testament to the human will to survive. Switching Time is by far one of the best non-fiction books I have read in years. Just as the alters were created as a means of survival, during the darkest and most frightening experiences imaginable, their destruction became a necessary step in the journey from divided survival to whole living. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a compelling, thought provoking, inspiring read...

Happy Reading!

This story is a deep, dark exploration through the extensive therapy and integration of a patient with DID. The author did a remarkable job recreating this story. I received this book on Thursday afternoon and finished it on Sunday. I appreciate the way the author presented his patient. I was amazed actual "letters" were shown which really solidified the fact this is based on an actual patient. One part I was not prepared for was the extent of abuse this woman endured. It was disturbing at one point I considered stop reading, but I continued on and was able to see why this information was important for the story. I would recommend this book to those who want to look into the intimate relationship and trust built between a provider and patient. And the courage this amazing woman had to survive.