if you lived here in NY....

Yes its possible to know your alters /parts/.... even if you cant control when you switch.

No you would not be locked up,

No you would not be called nuts

No treatment providers here do not think their clients are lying when they talk about their parts.

here where I live and work (NY USA) it is believed everyone has parts of their self that they switch into every day for many reasons. some of those reasons is due too mental disorder and some of those reasons is that its completely normal.

On a normal basis people react to their life, their self, their environment, and what is going on in the moment. Those reactions can sometimes be switching from one mood / role / parts of self to another. Sometimes these normal switches are perceived as "it wasnt me" type feelings to the moods/ roles/parts.

yesterday I was having a particularly stressful day and I suddenly felt like a little child wanting to throw a temper tantrum. On Sunday I went to a church service with a friend. I soon found myself feeling very meek, quiet.. At a family get together a few weeks ago I found myself to be feeling excited, anxious, proud, and acting one way with one relative and another way with another relative, when with my mother I felt like i was a child honoring my mothers authority, with my cousin I felt like I was a teen ager again and with an aunt I felt like an equal..

I dont have alternate personalities per se anymore because my alters were all integrated. but let me tell you after that family get together I called my therapist because I fears something was happening.. she told me "congratulations you are reacting like a normal person does. people normally do switch moods/roles/ parts like this every single day of their lives." boy was I relieved.

how to tell your T about your parts.... I didnt have that problem because it was through diagnostic testing that led to a psychiatrist telling me I had alternate personalities.

but I know some people who bring up the subject in therapy by asking their therapists if they could explain to them what the child within theory is. (This theory / concept is that every one has mood /role /parts switching that is childlike and is a normal reaction to their environment, life,...

this concept is in just about if not all books on PTSD, other mental disorders, college text books, autobiographies, mental health work books,....so its not an out of the ordinary topic of conversation in therapy.

then while discussing the child with in theory/ concept they talk about their own moods/ roles/ parts switching.

another way some people I know bring up the subject is by asking for diagnostic testing. mood/role/parts switching can be detected during psychiatric evaluations here in America because treatment providers are now aware of dissociation and dissociative disorders. they let the diagnostic report tell their therapists the parts are there.

Another way some people tell their therapists they have mood/role/part switching is by using feeling words... I felt like a child when.. I feel like a wild teen ager sometimes... I feel like.. which is another completely normal way to discuss things in therapy.

everyone has their own ways they tell their therapists things.. some people write it out, others say it during therapy, some call in during a time when they know their therapist wont be answering the phone, some people send their therapists emails...

just take your time and a way that is most comfortable for you will come to you.