[SQLVR]

My therapist and I have started working on the integration of my "voices" or "parts". What ever you want to call them. I'm happy to start the process, although I worry about how long it will take and if it will work. He wants me to start introducing them to each other and start talking to them about the fact that they will start to go away.
I'm excited and kinda nervous, but looking forward to just being me

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by SQLVR

My therapist and I have started working on the integration of my "voices" or "parts". What ever you want to call them. I'm happy to start the process, although I worry about how long it will take and if it will work. He wants me to start introducing them to each other and start talking to them about the fact that they will start to go away.
I'm excited and kinda nervous, but looking forward to just being me

sounds like you and your treatment providers are doing some really great work together. my suggestion dont worry about how long it will take, for some people it only takes a few sessions for others it takes years and others anywhere in between those two time spans, so Just continue working with your therapist and it will happen as its supposed to. keep up the great work.

[kaliope]

hi
I am just starting this process myself. my t tells me it could take five years. that really bummed me out. I don't even know all my parts yet. I journal with them at home and t talks to them in session. most recently the part that has always tried to kill me came out. that was a scary moment. but writing with him, he wants to heal too so all is well there. my t is always upset with me because I am pushing my parts to reveal all my secrets to me. she says I am going to end up in the hospital. faster is slower and slower is faster she keeps saying. but it aggravates me to sit around and do nothing. I feel like I should be actively doing something everyday to get the parts safe and free to be me again. I feel if they tell me all the secrets then we can be one. I know t just wants to slap me. lol. good luck in your journey....and if you every need to talk feel free to pm me. I don't know much about this but ive posted a few things and haven't got much response and found that aggravating. so if you need to talk, im here. take care.

[possum220]

The process of integration may take years. Some of my parts didn't not show up until the last few weeks. Some of the louder parts have been out for years. I dont know if there are more waiting their turn for when the structures are in place for them to also feel safe enough to come out. Just because we want to process to be quick and fast doesn't mean it will happen that way. Healing happens in its own time. The more you try and force things, chances are that hidden parts that no-one is even aware of, even you, will stay hidden.

The fact that you both have support in the real world is great. Two weeks ago I asked my psychologist " How long will it take before I am fixed". He said that the longer you have lived with it the longer it will take". (Meaning years).

I have also recently learned that integration does not mean that the parts will go away. It kinda means that the parts are connected together and things are much more smooth. The systems that we have work together instead of against each other.

It is very hard work. The journey is long. Have patience. I hope we can celebrate triumphs along the way.

[amandalouise]

Id like to clarify something.....the reason I put in my previous post in this thread that with some people it takes only a few sessions for some people and for others it can take years is because of the type of alters they are.......

here in NY a person doesnt need to wait until their alters are coming out, showing their self and all that, then take care of that alters problems, develop communication with that alter, develop coconsciousness with that alter all that stuff that can take years....

there are people who developing communication and co consciousness is not possible and here in NY the belief among the mental health field is that alters are already showing their self, coming out. if they were not the person would not be referred for diagnostic testing, due to there would be no evidence of that alters existence....there is always some sort of evidence of an alters existence besides the alter coming out...

examples of existance ...
documented history ...by that I mean through the persons treatment providers since before the age of 5 of things like hearing voices, time loss, sleep walking (sometimes an alter in control at night is mistaken for sleep walking) health history of amnesia since before the person was 5 yrs old., school records /documentation to dramatic changes in knowledge/amnesia/.....

getting a diagnosis and therapy and years does not change what has already been happening nor does the passage of years cause more alters to come out. treatment helps a person to heal which means they no longer dissociate to the extremes they did before treatment, which means alters are taking control less and less until they no longer come out because the person with DID is getting better.

some of my alters I never knew existed. I found lots of evidence that I had alters in general....documented history of medical records, school records that pointed to things like my hearing voices, losing track of time, doing things I did not remember doing, attending classes I never attended, getting upset/triggered during classes and then having amnesia and other dissociative symptoms....my health records showed many different conflictions to treatments, moods, mood switches, dissociative symptoms .....

my point is there is people out there who never get to know their alters exist, develop co consciousness, develop communication and such with their alters...what makes it possible for integration in these cases is working on the persons problems, as the person becomes more stabile and able to handle their own problems those alters whose job, purpose, reason for being is no longer needed...

one of my documented history is that every time there was a death in the family I exhibited mood switching, hearing one particular voice, amnesia, feelings of unreality of my environment, numbness, and other dissociative symptoms. my treatment providers documentation says when I was 6 yrs old it appeared as if I was another personality that would take control when there was a death in the family / seemed as if I was sleep waling / ...and other dissociative symptoms. all that was needed for this alter to become one with me /merge with me/or in your terms integrate was my taking a college course on death and dying at the suggestion of my therapist. After I took that class death no longer triggered me into dissociative symptoms, I could handle death so that alter whose job it was to deal with death around me became one with me. everything she was now was me. boy was I surprised one day to have the memory and feelings of a best friends drowning death at the river when I was a child....everything that alter was, became me again.

my point is everyone's process of integration is different...some people dont have to work at doing anything special to get their alters to integrate, for them integration is just the process of obtaining a therapist and working on their own problems/issues/ and as they become more stable and able to handle those things the alters do for them the alters merge with them, they become one whole person again.

every single one of my alters were the type that did not take years for each one to become one with me all simply by my becoming more stable and able to handle those jobs, purposes reasons for being that was my alters. most times i never developed co consciousness and communication with my alters because doing that was not possible for me and my internal system of alters.

Im ....not.... saying it doesnt take years for those that are saying it does...Im just saying for ....some .....people it does not take years, sometimes its just a matter of a few sessions other times it can take years. there are those of us out here who it did not take years for ....each.... alter to integrate.

which is why I always suggest with something like this is dont worry about how long....its all individualized....just keep working with your treatment providers and your alters will integrate how ever and in what ever ways that is right for you and your internal system of alters.