gerber,

I can only share my personal experience. I am keenly aware of my inner child at times and at other times, have no clue where she is. I see her at different ages. Mostly she's between 5 and 7 years of age. Once I heard her talking and it frightened me,but now I realize I didn't need to be frightened because she is part of me.

When I am with T I am not actively aware in the moment of when my child is talking and when my adult is talking. I try not to analyze the moment when I am in it, but rather to feel what I am feeling.

I dissociate quite a bit, but less now when I am with T. It is a feeling of being there but not really being there, spacing out if you will (to a greater degree). Sometimes I just "go somewhere" and T and I have actually laughed about it. He said I remind him of a book, The Time Traveler's Wife. It grows out of childhood trauma and then becomes habit. I am working on staying present in the moment.

Yes, I believe that the adult self can be forced inside when tackling difficult issues.

I hope this was helpful.