Bill Puett

My Conversations with Black Bill Puett

For more than 18 years, I have had many conversations with Black and the 13 people of a multiple system who share the same physical body. I have been for some their closest friend and for all a counselor and life coach. They are a wonderful and extraordinary group whose lives have touched me deeply. Over the years our email conversations have covered broad regions of philosophy, psychology, and spirituality, exploring concepts that include the nature of consciousness, personhood, multiple systems, and the mechanics of hypnosis. I decided to put together this book about multiplicity, personhood, and the nature of souls, exactly as it arose--as an exchange of views between longtime friends. On the matter of terminology, you will come to understand my distaste for the use of the terms "Multiple Personality Disorder" and "Dissociative Identity Disorder." Multiples do not have multiple personalities. Rather, they are multiple persons in a singular physical body, each possessing a unique personality. Multiples are not even dissociative--each person in a multiple system is always in existence, even if someone else is fronting (animating) the body. When not fronting, they live in an "inside" world, complete with geography, structures, weather, and so on--a reality as complete as our "outside" reality. For whom was this book written? To the multiples, whose voices have not been heard--I hope this book resonates with you and lets you know that you are not alone. To the skeptics--may this material challenge your world view even if seen as a work of fiction. And to all of you out there who are open to extraordinary possibilities--may this book stimulate your curiosity and motivate you to explore even more the mysteries of consciousness, personhood, and reality itself. --Dr. Bill PuettFrom the book: "You have asked me before whether or not I have suffered to the same degree as many in the system have. I cannot answer that. I can tell you that, in addition to my own suffering, I experience the suffering that each individual in the system experiences. There is not one that escapes me. Why do you think I am called Black?"