The Gatekeeper

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

The stories told in this novel are based on the real life experiences of the three women who have spent years grappling with the emotional, psychological, and physical effects of early childhood trauma. 

During the fact-finding phase of this project, I had extended close contact with each person whose fictional character ended up being adapted in the text of this novel. 

Although The Gatekeeper is a work of fiction, victims of child abuse and the people whose lives surround them should be able to recognize common scenarios that tend to challenge any possibility of living out a peaceful normal life even years after the abuse has ended.

The book focuses on transitional periods in the dynamic and unfolding lives of the real people upon whom the characters were based. Now that the project is completed their lives continue to evolve, at times toward recovery, at times toward chaos. Such is the nature of the healing process from such a complicated and deep-seated disorder. A key component seems to involve trust issues.

If the victim's mind has been gifted with multiple personalities, the first issue involves recognizing them, accepting them, and learning to trust them. With trust and acceptance comes internal cooperation and communication leading to a much more balance life. 

A victim of MPD now has an opportunity to turn a former disorder into a marvelous asset. I have personally witnessed a person with this gift present a unique alter to competently deal with a number of specialized situations. 

In just one of many remarkable instances, a legal paper was needed and after an initial claim that she couldn't develop such a document, an internal alter shift brought forth a personality with the ability to function like a lawyer. 

Once an internal mutual trust has been achieved, the quest for complete recovery next turns to the people outside of the host body in which the alters reside.

Trusting outsiders, especially men, if the abuser was a man, can be difficult. The natural defense seems to be a type of reversal. If the abuser selfishly controlled, dominated, and exploited his victim; in later life the victim is inclined to take on the role of the abuser. 

In dealings with men, a woman, now an adult victim of child abuse, may find herself driven to situations where she can dominate, control, or exploit men. Former victims often find themselves in the exotic entertainment industry, for example, where the sexual favors that used to be stolen from them are now sold to the highest bidder.

Although the novel's scenes seem to portray the dark side of multiple personality disorder; recovery, integration, and a melding of internal minds is possible and testimonials to that effect on the part of former victims of abuse are common and available. Each recovered victim has taken a different path to that place of wellness and there many people who are able and willing to help direct and assist in that process. 

The Gatekeeper is an engaging look into the distorted, contorted, and often incomprehensible world of those whose minds have fragmented, split, multiplied as a way of surviving early childhood torment. The reader is exposed to the effect on the mind of such childhood trauma along with treatment methods actually used in such cases. Also portrayed are the disrupted lives of those whose lives are intimately intertwined with such a victim. 

Previously published books such as Sibyl, Suffer the Child, When Rabbit Howls, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Maddy's Song, certainly had an impact on a national audience, spawning talk-show topics and the TV-movie, Shattered Mind, starring Heather Locklear. A renewed interest in the subject of MPD was evidenced by the discussion of the topic on two nationally televised talk shows, LEEZA (July 1995) and THE OTHER SIDE (July 1995).