Scared, Skeptical, and have no idea

[Elizabethn]

Safety is always the first rule! Definitely do what keeps you safe.

Remember that dissociation is a gift. It's what kept you alive and sane through bad, bad stuff. The others are doing their jobs, and those jobs are always about survival, even when it doesn't look that way from your perspective. They believe that you need the stuff taken away, for reasons that make sense to them where they are coming from.

Early in my therapy work, as others were starting to come forward and make themselves known, my t was very good about helping me create a safe space for the new knowledge, feelings, etc. There are lots of ways to do this. For some people it's an internal thing. Other people need lots more external stuff to make it happen.

For example, some people can build and live in whole worlds inside their heads and very little of it will show on the outside. For others, it's super important to have ways to live outwardly as well. Multis sometimes joke about stuff like owning several different wardrobes because various people have totally different (or even just a *little* different, but still important) tastes.

For me, a lot of stuff happened through journaling. I devoted 24/7 to therapy work for some years. (I don't recommend that method btw, it's VERY intense and mind bending.) I would sit at home between sessions and write and write and write, and much of our session work would just be me sitting there while my t read and commented, talking to everyone as if they were equally present through their written words. It worked very well for us.

I think you will know when it's time to know more. Remember, those others--even the ones who seem to be pretty far "out there"--have saved your bacon many times. If some of them are acting out in unsafe ways, then it's time for them to learn what safety is in the present. It's not the same as it used to be.