[Posted on htttp://www.reddit.com/r/did/.]
We don't like or use terms like "host" or "alter" because the concepts don't work for us. We see the body as a container or as a vehicle, not as a person. Everyone inside is equally real and equally valid.
Likewise the terms "original" and "core." In addition to all of the individuals who are present, we believe that we have a "collective self" that is greater than the sum of its parts (another term we don't care for, but tolerate for the sake of the analogy).
The collective self, our total being, has existed since our physical conception. Therefore, we believe that all of the individuals have also existed in some form, although not individuated until specific experiences prompt individuation.
We don't see individuation as "splitting," because this term by definition means that a split is part of another part. This is problematic for us for the same reason that "host" and "alter" are problematic.
Instead we see all individuation as coming directly from the collective self. We use a sandbox analogy. Individuals are castles formed directly from the grains of sand, not split off from pre-existing sandcastles.
Getting back to "host vs. alter"....It's common in today's multiple community for people to reframe the word "host" as "the person who's out the most" and/or "the person who handles daily life." We refuse this reframed viewpoint for two reasons. One is that many systems have two or more members who handle daily life. And more importantly, we don't believe that the term "host" will ever lose the traditional meaning assigned to it by old-school mental-health professionals, most of whom didn't understand that their paradigm wasn't necessarily the patient's reality.
Likewise, the word "alter" is commonly reframed by statements like "we are all alters." We don't disagree with the concept behind the statement, but just as with the term "host," we don't believe that the term "alter" will ever lose its traditional meaning. Instead, we simply tell people what we said in the first paragraph of this post.
Your Mileage May Vary (tm).
We don't like or use terms like "host" or "alter" because the concepts don't work for us. We see the body as a container or as a vehicle, not as a person. Everyone inside is equally real and equally valid.
Likewise the terms "original" and "core." In addition to all of the individuals who are present, we believe that we have a "collective self" that is greater than the sum of its parts (another term we don't care for, but tolerate for the sake of the analogy).
The collective self, our total being, has existed since our physical conception. Therefore, we believe that all of the individuals have also existed in some form, although not individuated until specific experiences prompt individuation.
We don't see individuation as "splitting," because this term by definition means that a split is part of another part. This is problematic for us for the same reason that "host" and "alter" are problematic.
Instead we see all individuation as coming directly from the collective self. We use a sandbox analogy. Individuals are castles formed directly from the grains of sand, not split off from pre-existing sandcastles.
Getting back to "host vs. alter"....It's common in today's multiple community for people to reframe the word "host" as "the person who's out the most" and/or "the person who handles daily life." We refuse this reframed viewpoint for two reasons. One is that many systems have two or more members who handle daily life. And more importantly, we don't believe that the term "host" will ever lose the traditional meaning assigned to it by old-school mental-health professionals, most of whom didn't understand that their paradigm wasn't necessarily the patient's reality.
Likewise, the word "alter" is commonly reframed by statements like "we are all alters." We don't disagree with the concept behind the statement, but just as with the term "host," we don't believe that the term "alter" will ever lose its traditional meaning. Instead, we simply tell people what we said in the first paragraph of this post.
Your Mileage May Vary (tm).
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