🏡 System
A group of parts sharing one body and one life.
A whole made of many.
🧩 Part
An individual identity within the system.
Each part has their own:
- thoughts
- feelings
- memories
- ways of seeing the world
Some feel very distinct.
Some feel blended.
All are real.
Each piece matters.
🪞 Alters
Another word for parts.
A more clinical mirror of the same idea. We don’t use this.
👑 Host
The part most involved in daily life.
The one often holding the outside world.
This can change over time.
It’s not a “core personality”, just the one currently fronting most often.
🚪 Fronting
Who is currently “in control” of the body.
If someone is fronting, they’re:
- speaking
- moving
- interacting with the outside world
Sometimes one part fronts.
Sometimes multiple parts blend.
🌫️ Blending / Co-fronting
When more than one part is present at the same time.
This can feel like:
- shared thoughts
- mixed emotions
- not being entirely sure “who is who”
It’s not always clear-cut.
🔄 Switching
The process of one part taking over from another.
This can be:
- obvious
- subtle
- or barely noticeable
Sometimes it feels like a shift.
Sometimes like losing time.
Sometimes like nothing at all.
🌊 Dissociation
A disconnection.
It can affect:
- memory
- identity
- emotions
- body awareness
For us, it can feel like:
- being far away
- being foggy
- watching instead of living
It’s not always dramatic. Often it’s quiet.
🕳️ Amnesia
Gaps in memory.
This might be:
- not remembering conversations
- not recognising things we’ve written or done
- losing chunks of time
Not all parts share all memories.
🔥 Trauma Holder
A part that carries specific traumatic memories or experiences.
They hold what others can’t.
That doesn’t make them “the problem.”
It means they protected the system.
🧸 Littles
Younger parts.
They may:
- feel like children
- experience the world in child-like ways
- need comfort, safety, and reassurance
They are not “acting.”
They are that age internally.
🌱 Teen Parts
Parts who are in a teenage stage.
Often hold:
- strong emotions
- identity struggles
- anger or independence
They make sense when you understand what they’ve lived through.
🪶 Introject
A part based on an external person.
This can be:
- someone safe
- someone unsafe
- or someone complicated
They are not the actual person.
But they can feel very real.
🌙 The Den
Our internal safe space.
A place for:
- comfort
- connection
- organisation
- safety
Not everyone experiences internal spaces, but we do.
🔮 Crystal Council / Den Committee
Groups within our internal world.
They help with:
- guidance
- comfort
- emotional regulation
They matter, even if they don’t make sense externally.
🪵 Grounding
Ways to come back to the present moment.
This might include:
- sensory input (touch, smell, temperature)
- focusing on surroundings
- slowing the body down
It helps when things feel too much or too far away.
⚡ Trigger
Something that activates a strong emotional or trauma response.
It’s not about being “too sensitive.”
It’s about the nervous system recognising danger, even when there isn’t any now.
🕊️ Safety
Not just the absence of danger.
For us, safety means:
not needing to disappear
being seen without harm
having control
Why this matters
Words shape understanding.
And DID is often misunderstood.
So this glossary isn’t about being perfect, and may not reflect other system’s ways to describe their experience, it’s about being clear enough that you can walk alongside us without guessing what everything means.
A Thousand Silent Sundays 