My Childhood Experiences in Germany During World War II
2024: Presidential election fervor has captivated the American people. In 1933, a similar fervor swept across Germany resulting in Adolph Hitler, founder of the Nazi
A fateful chance encounter brings Joan face to face with the therapist she has waited for all her life. Hopeless and desolate, she asks, “Will you take me?”
Joan is a married woman of substance and faith. At age 32, her mind broke open and her life fell apart. She is diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder. In treatment, Joan reveals she suffered unrelenting sexual abuse throughout her childhood. Her only defense was to flee into a dissociative state, during which her mind created 52 alternate personalities to protect her from the unimaginable.
Raven and the Hummingbird invites the reader into the therapy room to witness each triumph and setback. Her healing path to recovery is littered with life’s obstacles and often smothered by exhaustion. In her quest to piece together her fragmented mind, Joan must endure the unbearable truth and remember the unthinkable.
2024: Presidential election fervor has captivated the American people. In 1933, a similar fervor swept across Germany resulting in Adolph Hitler, founder of the Nazi
“… an insightful exploration into the complex world of Dissociative Identity Disorder … What sets Raven and the Hummingbird apart is its authenticity. This is not a book steeped in theoretical frameworks or rooted in empirical research. Instead, it provides readers an intimate, unfiltered look at a challenging therapeutic journey. [A]nyone interested in an exploration of human resilience or seeking to understand DID will find this book both enlightening and profoundly moving.”
“… a hauntingly beautiful story about a woman’s therapeutic journey as she tries to find a way to cope with her fragmented personality. With eye-opening illustrations … fantastical descriptions … and the authentic depiction of the therapeutic relationship … this book is exceptional.”
—Robin Goodfellow, Readers’ Favorite
Raven and the Hummingbird: A Healing Path to Recovery From Multiple Personality Disorder invites readers to witness the power of resilience and the human spirit. It is a story of hope and triumph over adversity that will leave you inspired and in awe of the strength of the human mind.
[The Author] presents a powerful story that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster as you witness the shattering of one woman’s life and her remarkable journey toward recovery. Through Caldwell’s vivid and descriptive words, you will feel the pain and struggle of every step and the hope and triumph that come with resilience and the human spirit. Raven and the Hummingbird is a must-read for anyone seeking inspiration and a reminder of the incredible strength of the human mind.”
—Suzie Housley, Midwest Book Review
“… a compelling work that provides a poignant account of … recovery from the ramifications of severe childhood abuse. I am not an empath but reading the work by Caldwell was as close as I think I have ever been to feeling like one, which means the book is doing what it is meant to do … educating on a level that a reader will never forget and not sugar-coating a patient’s experience for the sake of softening the unsoftenable. Exceptional.”
—Asher Syed, Readers’ Favorite
“A brilliant, original, and beautifully written book … Licensed Professional Counselor Caldwell’s outstanding debut takes readers on a dissociative identity disorder patient’s harrowing journey from devastation to recovery. Powerful, compelling, and authentic; a provocative read.”
—The Prairies Book Review (Canada)
“… deeply intense and the amount of insight author Renate Caldwell presents to readers is extraordinary. Very highly recommended.”
—Jamie Michele, Readers’ Favorite
“Raven and the Hummingbird is an immense, immersive, and affecting work. Caldwell unfolds Joan’s story with utmost clarity and consideration for readers without a mental health background… [She] paints a fascinatingly intricate picture of Joan’s fractured mind…careful to calmly explore traumatic events with clear-sighted, purposeful, yet measured, prose. [Her] writing is beautiful, gently elegant, and shot through with poetry. Caldwell has produced a deeply absorbing, educational, and inspiring chronicle…”
—The Book Review Directory Review
“stark and powerful portrait of a tortured mind. Written with poise and determination, [the book] explores Joan’s Multiple Personality Disorder in an affecting and powerful manner. … This is a tough, uncompromising, and enlightening read.”
—Critic’s Report, The BookLife Prize. Read More
Raven and the Hummingbird was selected as a Finalist for the 2023 Oklahoma Center for the Book Award.
Renate F. Caldwell is a WWII and domestic violence survivor. She came to America to get “educated,” received her GED at thirty-two, and was accepted into university as a provisional student. She earned degrees in Education and Journalism, a master’s degree in Human Relations, and has completed two years of postgraduate study in Transpersonal Psychology and Mysticism.
Ms. Caldwell received recognition and awards for her work as an educator and journalist. As a video documentarian, she received the Women in Film Award for No Key to Turn which chronicles urban barrio housing conditions in El Paso, Texas.
Achievements in these diverse fields contributed in meaningful ways to her more than twenty years of practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor attending to clients who suffered from multiple personality disorder (aka dissociative identity disorder), post-traumatic stress, domestic violence, and schizophrenia.
FEMA’s Project Heartland acknowledged Ms. Caldwell’s contributions in providing crisis counseling for victims of domestic terrorism related to the 1995 Murrah Building bombing in Oklahoma City.
She is a member of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.
Joan, my client, encouraged me to tell her story in hopes of making a difference in the lives of others coping with Multiple Personality Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder, a consequence of severe childhood sexual abuse. She understood bringing to light what she suffered would be heartrending and at times shocking to read. I have strived to honor her truth, its mystery and grace.
Raven and the Hummingbird is a book of hope. Joan and I trust that learning about her healing path from MPD/DID will provide hope for those afflicted. Hope for their families. Hope for caregivers, friends, and service providers. Hope for the possibility of healing.
Our further aim in writing this book is to inspire more mental health professionals to accept the challenge of treating those with MPD/DID. And to encourage their understanding and empathy for its complexities.
Joan and I trust Raven and the Hummingbird may dispel misperceptions and skepticism about MPD/DID and make more comprehensible the nature of healing practices that take place during psychotherapy.
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