Hey.

I appreciate your posting a response to me.

I guess my view of integration might be a little different from most peoples idea of integration. For me... Integration isn't so much an event as a process. Supposedly 'normal' people are fragmented - to a greater or lesser extent - and they are more or less integrated over time. It is a normal response to stress to be more fragmented... And it is a normal response to be less fragmented / more integrated when events are running fairly smoothly and when one is in a good place. I guess I think that, for me, I will be more or less integrated over time but as I progress I'll fragment less because I'll have more ego strength to deal with stressful events without fragmenting too much.

I guess... I think of integration as something that I work towards on a daily basis. Kind of like 'trying to be a good person'. I succeed with that more or less well each day, but it is something to attempt to do. While some people seek more integration by way of therapy I think it is certainly possible to seek integration outside therapy. One doesn't need to have therapy to develop as a person and to progress as a person.

It sounds like you have had a hard life and I really do understand that it is hard to come to some sort of peace after all that... I'm not really sure on your question... Are you asking whether you should continue with therapy until your therapist pronounces you 'integrated'? I guess... I think that you should do what you think is best for you. If you think you have learned some skills and developed some strength such that you can continue on the journey without a therapist then I really respect that decision. Only you know what is best for you at the end of the day.

Good luck.