I found a good starting point for learning was ego state therapy:
http://www.clinicalsocialwork.com/overview.html

The night before my second or third therapy session, I had a dream about a little girl, a younger me, that I took with me to therapy. I told T about this the next day, and he told me the little girl was a younger ego state and that everyone has them to some extent. He said the younger me's split off like that often due to traumatic childhood events. They are not completely separate, though, as in DID. (I never have "lost time" where an ego state takes over and I have no memory of it.) I have identified about 3 fairly distinct younger versions of me. One is a teen, the other two are about 5 and 8. We have worked with these as well as some younger ego states that are less distinct. T has taught me how to go to them and rescue them from traumatic incidents. How to comfort them. I love them dearly.

Quite some time after I became cognizant of the younger me's, an adult, male ego state manifested himself. That was pretty freaky! He told me his job was to protect me. He is a young adult and quite brash and headstrong. He's a definite handful. What is weird is that he seems to have knowledge of some things that go on that I don't, and also knows things about the younger ego states that I don't. He is particularly friendly with the teen. It really threw me for a loop that I didn't know everything that was going on. I felt like, "hey, who's in charge here????" T talks to the other ego states sometimes, but always through me. He asks me a question, then I ask the ego state, and she/he responds to me, and I relay the response to T. Sometimes it is weird, like I am an observer or a bystander, just a go between. Especially, the male has wanted to speak with T directly and will tell him things I have no say in at all. It has really annoyed me, to have these "males" (my T is male) talking about me as if I was not there. He has also told T things about T that I would never say directly to T. He is not invested in the therapy relationship like I am so this is not hard for him. Since my T is a family therapist from a family systems perspective, he takes the role of helping us all "get along" and he helps me know the right things to say to them to reassure them and calm them. He says the relationship between me and my protector can benefit from the same sort of skills he teaches couples to get along better. He also lets me be the total guide on if we will work with or talk about the ego states. He never brings them up. It helps me just to be aware of their existence. Knowing about the male and having communicated with him and heard his point of view has made me better able to understand my sometimes uncharacteristic reactions to certain situations. Now I can smile and think, "there he goes again." He is after all, motivated by his desire to protect me and the girls. He means well, and he has a lot to offer (strength) if I can take advantage.

Absolutely. Discovering the male was especially freaky. It was one thing to have younger versions of me, but quite another to have an ego state that was an adult and of a different gender. Who is that???

Yes. The first time the male came, he stayed with me continuously for several days and my brain got pretty darn crowded. I felt I was being crowded into a corner and he was getting most of the space. Finally I made him leave. I felt bad about that, but I couldn't take that much closeness over a long period of time. I need him to stay in the background.

Good luck. The psyche is so interesting.