Most standard texts consider a unitary personality, meaning the integration of alters into one single personality, as the ultimate goal and measurement of therapeutic success. I beg to differ. My criterion of success was and is measured in terms of social and relational function. If a DID individual is functioning with minimal internal conflict, like a well put together orchestra or football team, that is success in therapy.

It is not helpful to demand a unitary personality as the final criterion of success. After all, a DID individual is an expert in dissociation. For those with DID, Dissociation is strongly ingrained after being used for decades as a defense mechanism against overwhelming stress at the beginning of abuse, and potentially overwhelming stress one might encounter in the future. That habitual defense pattern will reappear as soon as the post-integration DID individual faces stress in the future that is greater than the strength of the integration.

I believe and maintain that the single personality ideal is a myth. In many non-DID individuals, although there are not amnestic barriers, there are clearly different parts that emerge when needed, whether it be the office personality, the romantic personality or perhaps the competitive athletic personality. So long as there is no undue internal friction, life can carry on even more in a colorful way with multiplicity.

There are many real life examples of highly successful DID individuals who are functioning in their multiplicity as a group of alters who have come to agreement of how to live together in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration within that one body.