Help needed please

My T is asking me to talk to my alters. I don't know if they are aware of each others existence though. Sometimes I think they might be older and younger versions of each other as well. This doesn't make it any easier really.

Logically I know they are all parts of me as well but they all are still so separate and I feel no real connection to them.

I need to get this sorted because we're going for emdr and there is a real dangerous protector amongst us so ho is likely to mess up. The whole therapy.

Has anyone got any tips on how I might talk to my alters or to get them communicating with each other.

Not sure if any of this makes sense.

Thank you in advance.

Ziggy

talking with the alters... and your need to sort out how to do this? its not something you can study for, research, get answers from others or sort out. talking with your alters is something that just happens and is naturally part of having dissociative type alters.

for example in your post you stated "Sometimes I think they might be older and younger versions of each other as well." so how do you know that, how do you know they exist in order to know this information.... answer somehow you and your alters communicated to each other this information. Other wise you would not know your alters exist, you would not know some may be older or younger or that they are versions of each other. somehow you and your alters are communicating with each other.

your therapist is just asking you to do what you have done all your life time already.. thats all it is. nothing you have to research or sort out, the answers are all with in you already.

this is not something I can tell you how to do or anyone else. here we dont tell each other what to do. we can suggest things that worked for ourselves but only you know how you have been communicating with your alters all your life time in order to know they are there, and any other information you know about them.

also since this is a therapy exercise or "homework" that your therapist wants you to do it wouldnt be fair for me to tell you what to do and how to do it. your therapist isnt going to want to know how I communicated with my alters, what my alters told me and so on, your therapist wants to know how you communicate with your alters.

so just do what ever you have done to find out that your alters are there, whether they are younger or older than each other or versions of each other and any other things you already know about them. think about how you have found out things about them over the many years since their creation.

again this isnt something that you have to study, research and sort out, just look inside yourself and discover how you have managed to learn about your alters all these years. its much simpler if you remember one thing.... DID begins in very early childhood under the age of 5. getting a diagnosis doesnt change anything, just puts a name to whats already been happening. so just go on what you already know to do.

It's been my experience that when we have to, or are asked to, communicate with alters anxiety is a natural response. Remember to take good, healthy, even breaths and do what you've always done to communicate. Also, if you cannot communicate for any reason, that's totally okay. It will come when it comes.

Hi and welcome Little Ziggy. Learning to communicate with your alters takes time and process.... LOTS of time and process. So please don't worry that you're "not doing it right" or failing or anything like that. I have been in therapy for many, many years and even now we have trouble communicating with some alters, although with others it is very comfortable and easy now.
The barriers between alters exist for a reason, so building connections and communication takes so much time, and so many missteps. For you right now it might be that simply thinking about developing communication is "enough". It is definitely likely to be progress over "before" when you maybe weren't even aware of them or - if you were - didn't want to have anything to do with communicating with them. So just getting comfortable with the idea of finding ways to communicate is progress towards the end goal in itself.
Sometimes the steps towards communication really that simple and small. Sometimes even a tiny little step requires a major internal shift in belief and acceptance. it can be an incredibly slow process.
And then other times it can be super fast, too.
Just take it step by step!