"Brain Storm" by Shelley Kolton, MD

“You will not emerge unchanged from Brain Storm. It is a harrowing, hallowing experience and a triumph of the human spirit.”

—ROBIN MORGAN, bestselling author of SISTERHOOD IS POWERFUL and former editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine (Excerpted from the introduction to BRAIN STORM)

“Raw, real, and heartbreaking, this book is proof—that no matter what we experience as humans—we are more resilient than we believe ourselves to be. Brain Storm will inspire you to re-examine what you thought about healing and find hope for your own journey.”

—AMY B. SCHER, author of THIS IS HOW I SAVE MY LIFE and HOW TO HEAL YOURSELF WHEN NO ONE ELSE CAN

Excerpted from BRAIN STORM

I could hear footsteps and knew that Jack Watkins was about to come through that door. He was a big, ugly bald man dressed in khaki shorts and a graying white T-shirt with armpit stains. I was three.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The frightened 7-year girl. The aggressive 14-year old boy. The terrified 3-year old child. The cult leader.

She lived with these, and over thirty other parts of her mind, no less real than you and I, throughout endless periods of deepest depression, paralyzing panic, thoughts of suicide, a revolving door of psychotherapists.

A harbinger of the coming storm, darkness followed her everywhere, from infancy to a career as a renowned, openly gay OB/GYN in New York City. A loving wife and three remarkable kids completed the façade while inside, her mind was a raging tempest of terror and despair. A fierce will to survive sustained her until, at long last, a gifted therapist gave a name to her unrelenting psychic pain: Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

In Brain Storm, Dr. Shelley Kolton tells the story of a childhood marked by unimaginable abuse and the distinct parts her brain created to hold the horrific memories, protecting her until she was strong enough to let them go. Session after grueling session, she balanced the demands of medicine, marriage and family as new parts emerged, each one requiring her attention and care. The relationship with her therapist over thirteen torturous years was central to fully accepting that all the alters colliding inside her brain had, in truth, saved her.

Kolton paints a brutally honest, intimate portrait of a woman living with DID, managing the inhabitants of her own creation. So raw and real are her memories, she puts to rest any doubts as to the existence of multiple personalities and the excruciating work it takes to heal. In the end, Brain Storm is the breathtaking account of a mind fragmented and broken, ultimately made whole by one woman’s incomparable strength and towering courage.

Shelley Kolton

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shelley Kolton, MD co-founded the first all-women OB/GYN practice in New York City in 1980. As a physician, she has appeared as a medical contributor on news shows such as the MacNeil/Lehrer Report and ABC News, among others. Dr. Kolton was also a medical consultant for a number of television series during the 1990s. She collaborated on – and wrote the foreword for – The Next Nine Months: A Guide to Your Body After Giving Birth (Penguin) and has been published in several prestigious medical journals. Brain Storm is her first book.

She lives in New York City with her wife, two of her three daughters and until recently, her beloved Pit Bull, Gracie.

FOLLOW SHELLEY ON GOODREADS AND BOOKBUB

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

“Tying in threads of feminism, lesbianism, and motherhood, [Brain Storm] is an intriguing meditation on the labyrinthine workings of the human mind as well as the dedication required to overcome the traumas of childhood.

A probing, surprising mental health memoir.”

Kirkus Reviews

“[Brain Storm is] a wrenching, enthralling memoir of a woman living with Dissociative Identity Disorder.”

BookLife/Publishers Weekly

Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces offers a dazzling account of Shelley Kolton’s struggle with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and her healing journey. Her crisp and sparkling prose stays the eyes of readers on the pages while the captivating voice and superior storytelling keep them turning the pages. Readers will understand the condition and gain insights into how she communicated and switched between her alters. This account of multiple personality disorder is spellbinding, peppered with images and memories that are rich and raw. She writes with a clarity that is mind-blowing and allows readers vivid pictures of her psyche. The account is ruthlessly honest and there are moments readers can’t miss the biting humor — it fills every page. ”

—The Book Commentary

“An inherently fascinating, candid, insightfully descriptive, thoughtful and thought-provoking read from cover to cover, Brain Storm: A Life in Pieces is an original and especially, unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Psychology, Psychiatry, and Contemporary American Biography/Memoir collections.”

—Small Press Bookwatch

Brain Storm is a gut-wrenching memoir that moves from extreme abuse to healing and forgiveness.”

—Clarion Reviews

“Most of all, Kolton does not look for pity from her readers, but rather looks to increase the understanding behind DID. If you are curious about this disorder, Kolton gives you a patient’s-eye view of not only what it’s like to live with DID but what it’s like to undertake the long journey of therapy toward recovery.”

—BookTrib

“In these pages, Shelley Kolton speaks the truth about a life shattered into thirty-one darkly glittering splinters. Barefoot, she walks across those jagged edges to the sharpest grief of all — the collision and then integration of the alters, the mourning, the healing of the self.”

“You will not emerge unchanged from Brain Storm. It is a harrowing, hallowing experience — and a triumph of the human spirit.”

—ROBIN MORGAN, bestselling author of SISTERHOOD IS POWERFUL and former editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine (Excerpted from the introduction to BRAIN STORM)

“Raw, real, and heartbreaking, this book is proof — that no matter what we experience as humans — we are more resilient than we believe ourselves to be. Brain Storm will inspire you to re-examine what you thought about healing and find hope for your own journey.”

—AMY B. SCHER, author of THIS IS HOW I SAVE MY LIFE and HOW TO HEAL YOURSELF WHEN NO ONE ELSE CAN

“I highly recommend the book Brain Storm as the author gives a gripping look at living life and healing from dissociative identity disorder. I could not put Brain Storm down because the story Shelley Kolton tells is so honest and truthful without sensationalizing a harsh diagnosis and what happened to cause it.”

—SHIRLEY DAVIS, author of A COMPILATION OF THE RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC OF DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER

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INTERVIEWS AND ARTICLES

Woman Around Town, July 2021

Depresh Mode with John Moe , February 2022

Psychology News Twitter Feature, March 2022

BookTrib Excerpt, March 2022

KevinMD Podcast, May 2022

Insider, May 2022

EVENTS

June 12, 2022 4:00PM – 5:30PM
ONLINE Virtual Event
An Infinite Mind Speaker Series

RESOURCES

Books

Oksana, Chrystine. Safe Passage to Healing: A Guide for Survivors of Ritual Abuse. Lincoln, NE. iUniverse.com, Inc. 2001

Cohen, Barry M.; Giller, Esther; W., Lynn. Multiple Personality Disorder from the Inside Out. Baltimore, MD. The Sidran Press. 2005

Van Der Kolk, MD, Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma. New York. Penguin Publishing Group. 2015

Karp, David A. Speaking of Sadness: Depression, Disconnection, and the Meanings of Illness. New York, Oxford University Press. 1996

Terr, MD, Lenore. Unchained Memories: True Stories of Traumatic Memories, Lost and Found. New York. Basic Books. 1994

Herman, MD, Judith Lewis. Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. New York. Basic Books. 1992

Steinberg, MD, Marlene; Schnall, Maxine. The Stranger in the Mirror: Dissociation – the Hidden Epidemic. New York. Quill, Harper Collins. 2003

Ross, MD, Colin A. The CIA Doctors: Human Rights Violations by American Psychiatrists. Texas. Manitou Communications, Inc. 2006

Noblitt, Randy; Noblitt, Pamela Perskin. Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-Frist Century: Psychological, Forensic, Social, and Political Considerations. Oregon. Robert D. Reed Publishers. 2008

Casey, Joan Frances; Wilson, Lynn. The Flock: The Autobiography of a Multiple Personality. New York. Alfred A. Knopf. 1991

Miller, Alice. Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society’s Betrayal of the Child. New York. New American Library. 1986

Davis, Shirley. A Compilation of the Research on the Topic of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Independently Published. 2019

CONTACT

To send a message to Shelley, fill out the form below or write her at shelley@shelleykoltonmd.com.

Publicist

Wiley Saichek, Saichek Publicity
646-896-9960
saichekpublicity@gmail.com