parenting your inner child has a healthy ring to it and can be an ultimate goal. But one thing that can happen, very anti-therapeutic, is to skip out on the Transference relation with the therapist. It is that person-to-person relationship that makes you well, not just going it alone (which is what we've tried already!) We have a strong tendency to be loners and to have attachment fears that can only be healed by a therapist.

I've realized that being a parent to myself comes at the end of therapy, not the beginning or middle. I read John Bradshaw's book, "Homecoming" where he's very strong about this self parenting idea. I realized I was completely cutting my therapist out of the picture and actually causing my DID and bonding avoidance to be much worse. So, it's a two-sided coin. And if the idea of being a parent to my own self makes me feel lost, alone, and resentful, I'm pushing myself in to a more advanced stage than I'm ready for.