A Brilliant Adaptation

PRAISE

Mentioned in Indie Bookshelf from Publishers Weekly

“…absolutely breathtaking memoir… you achieved the challenging and compelling feat of using words to powerfully convey the non-worded world of inner experience…It reads so painfully clear and deeply empowering; this will be of help and interest to so many…”
—Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, MD

“Sally Maslansky’s biographical account, chronicling her therapeutic journey to comprehend and overcome the pervasive childhood trauma that led to her identity fragmentation, is truly inspirational. For survivors, Sally provides a sense of camaraderie, profound strategies, and insights, instilling hope for profound and embodied healing. Her description of her work with Dr. Dan Siegel serves as a masterclass for clinicians navigating and treating individuals with dissociative conditions and may even offer vicarious healing to those experiencing such challenges.”
—Mary-Anne Kate, PhD, award-winning researcher in dissociation, trauma, and mental health; member of the Scientific Committee of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD)

“Sally Maslansky opens her heart and mind to share a deeply personal journey of self-discovery through the psychotherapeutic process. A heart-wrenching yet uplifting read, revealing how understanding and compassion shift suffering to authentic happiness.”
—Sue Smalley, PhD, professor emerita in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles

“This book fills a much-needed gap in the self-help world! So many survivors of traumatic childhoods have dissociative identity disorder (DID) but suffer in silence needlessly. Thank you for helping to bring to light an often dismissed and stigmatized experience for so many! I will recommend this to clients and colleagues.”
—Kaytee Gillis, LCSW, psychotherapist and author of several books on childhood trauma, including Breaking the Cycle and Healing from Parental Abandonment and Neglect

“A Brilliant Adaptation is an extraordinary memoir. My wife Mary and I found it to be gripping from start to finish. A true page-turner that shook us to the core and drew deep, heart-rending emotions from both of us. Not your ordinary dry medical tome—far from it—and yet its story of surviving a childhood of severe physical and psychological trauma is a study of major importance. What incredible courage Sally Maslansky has in writing so truthfully as a person who lived through it, and as a skilled therapist who now treats others who have similarly suffered.”
—Fred Schepisi, writer, producer, and director, and Mary Schepisi, artist and curator of auctions for The Australian Prostate Cancer Clinic

“Sally’s story is one of extraordinary bravery, strength, and resilience in the face of unimaginable childhood trauma. Through it, we emerge with the valuable insight that we all have the capacity to work through our own trauma—Sally gives us the courage to do that. A Brilliant Adaptation is a page-turner. Despite being advised in the foreword to take it in slowly, I couldn’t help myself—I at once read it through, cover to cover.”
—Karen Bluth, PhD, associate professor emerita at the University of North Carolina and author of The Self-Compassion Workbook for Teens, The Self-Compassionate Teen, and Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens in Schools

“Sally Maslansky’s story of healing from early wounds is a testament to our capacity for transformation. This book reframes even the most fragmented inner worlds as places where hope, wholeness, and connection can take root and flourish. What an inspiration for all of us coming to terms with our lives as parents, as children, and as human beings.”
—Bethany Saltman, best-selling book coach, literary agent, and author of Strange Situation

“Sally Maslansky’s A Brilliant Adaptation accurately names and describes dissociative identity responses as just that…brilliant adaptations. Not only is the book a tremendous contribution to our literature about dissociative identities, but it also offers us keen insight into the experience of discovery and exploration as a detailed memoir of psychotherapy. Very grateful to Sally for this work, and to Dr. Siegel for his willingness and open-mindedness. A stellar contribution that ought to be in the collection of every clinician working with dissociation in their practices.”
—Jamie Marich, PhD, author of Dissociation Made Simple and coauthor of Trauma and the 12 Steps

“Sally Maslansky’s A Brilliant Adaptation has opened a Pandora’s box of memory. It teaches us how to come to terms with the ghosts of childhood nightmares, how to live with the past, despite trying to find your true self, and finally overcoming our traumas to become our best and complete selves. It is a book of triumph over all our shadows. It is worth its weight in discovering harmony.”
—Eric Roth, Academy Award–winning screenwriter

“A powerful and deeply moving journey into the hidden realms of dissociative identity disorder, where fractured inner worlds collide beneath a veil of unawareness. This compassionate and eloquently written book reveals the struggle of living divided and the brave, gradual path toward healing. Through the strength of a trusting relationship, protective barriers gently dissolve. Offering hope to trauma survivors and invaluable insight for therapists, it affirms that even after deep pain, restoration and connection can be achieved. Truly inspiring!”
—Ruth A. Lanius, MD, PhD

“Sally Maslansky describes her connection with Dan Siegel with such tenderness. The mutual respect and connection seem to shine throughout the story. This is a lovely first-person description of how it feels when both clinician and client can sit in extreme pain together to create an environment where the isolation is broken, which allows healing to not only begin, but be sustained.”
—Catherine “Katie” Keech, LMFT, cofounder of The Refractory, an international clinical organization for mental health professionals and researchers with lived experience in plurality, DID, and other specified dissociative disorder (OSDD)

“I began this book doubtful at some level that dissociative identity disorder was even real, but Sally Maslansky shattered my skepticism. Her story is terrifying at first, then astonishing—each ‘part’ revealed as a life-preserving adaptation, created in service of survival. She helps us see what she slowly came to see: that DID is not madness but a brilliant, protective response to unthinkable abuse. Watching memory barriers dissolve, happiness resurface, and integration emerge is profoundly moving. This is not just a gripping memoir but a guide to trauma resolution, hope, and wholeness. I left grateful, enlightened, and deeply inspired by her recovery.”
—Maxwell Kennedy, attorney, educator, and author of Make Gentle the Life of This World and Danger’s Hour

“…an extraordinary book… A mighty accomplishment. Brave. Smart and I am sure a significant resource for fellow therapists as well as for the non-professional reader.”
—Paul Maslansky, iconic film and television producer