Agreed, and I would just like to take this opportunity to plug another fantastic book on parts and dissociation: The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic Traumatization
If you want THE book on structural dissociation, pick up The Haunted Self. Fair warning, it is most decidedly not a light read. It’s very academic and brainy, in parts. It can be very dry. It’s also incredibly fascinating and taught me a ton.
> There’s a book about the theory of structural dissociation
https://did-research.org/did/alters/internal_worlds
In specific,
>That such internal environments are possible for individuals with dissociative identity disorder is well known and accepted in clinical and academic environments. For example, "The Haunted Self' by Onno van der Hart, Ellert R. S. Nijenhuis, and Kathy Steele includes information about how alters can interact internally and sometimes never take active control of the body. Within this internal environment, alters may soothe each other or reenact trauma to cause subjective internal injury. Traumatized child parts may perceive themselves as eternally hiding within a closet or locked within a metaphorical dungeon. These worlds might be filled with symbols of the system's pain and suffering. On the other hand, internal worlds may also be places of magic and fantasy, fulfilling the system's need for a place in which alters can retreat when the outside world becomes overwhelming. Alters may perceive this internal world as real as or even more real than the outside world (Hart et al., 2006).1
(https://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Self-Dissociation-Traumatization-Interpersonal/dp/0393704017)
Onno van der Hart is a piece of garbage, but the rest of the writers, to my knowledge, are not.
Podcasts:
I don't really listen to many podcasts sorry for the short list!
Books:
Some more resources:
Here is a site to post in case you got bombarded with hate
https://did-research.org/origin/structural_dissociation/
Here is a book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Haunted-Self-Dissociation-Traumatization-Interpersonal/dp/0393704017
Here is that book available to read for everyone without paying: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vrO1oGhK10HPcQvQnMiB0KQ6QutKNgWM/view?usp=drivesdk
There’s also a site that summarises the entire book. I’ll grab it and paste it
I think you're right that it's dissociative and fragmented. Have you ever read about structural dissociation? This might be in the secondary realm where it's not at the level of DID but is a bit more fully formed than milder parts and leaves the ANP/Self without as much control over their behavior. I have a part like this that I'm able to work with but it has required some negotiation and she is still extremely strong and able to take over (and she also hates my partner so I sympathize).
This is a good book if you want to learn more from the academic perspective: The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic Traumatization
I haven't read this one yet but it comes highly recommended: Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation
These are not really related to IFS except in the sense of talking about parts, but they might give you a stronger conceptual model for parts that exist at this level of distinction. I also find the more scientifically-grounded descriptions helpful for me as it explains why I have this one hyper traumatized and strong part who can actually take over in ways other parts can't.
My personal library on Dissociative Disorders and CPTSD.
This includes:
Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders: DSM-V and Beyond.
Neurobiology and Treatment of Traumatic Dissociation
Understanding and Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder
Rebuilding Shattered Lives: Treating Complex PTSD and The Dissociative Disorders
Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving
Treating Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders
Feeling Unreal Depersonalization Disorder and The Loss of Self
Dissociation In Traumatized Children and Adolescents
In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness.
Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors
Trauma and The Body A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy
The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation
Somatization and Psychosomatic Symptoms.
Some of these are Ebooks or PDF's. The ebooks can be viewed using the program Calibre, or you can purchase them and support the Researchers/Clinicians. In addition there are numerous studies in there. For more studies you can use https://scholar.google.com/ and using https://sci-hub.now.sh/ to unlock them for free. Just choose one of the working domains and plug in you DOI or URL. Be aware some places will have scihub blacklisted.
Lastly every post in this blog should be read This is not Dissociative. It's run by researchers in the field.
This is Not Dissociative Master List 1
This Is Not Dissociative Master List 2
This is Not Dissociative FAQ's
This is Not Dissociative Commonly Used Tags
I think that about wraps it up.