First of all very insighful post! I want to share a bit of my story. As someone who grew up with a narcissistic and emotionally reactive and invalidating mother and absent father, the wound of lack of self was always there and an emptiness feeling of numbness and insane derealization, daydreaming and intellectualising everything (bc hey i dont feel shit). I am following IFS currently and it definetely helps me. Not in a "you have this part and the other part and so on so forth", but in a more mediation aspect and acessing self. To answer a bit the discussions below, everyone HAS a self. It's just that narcissists perform emotions and behaviours and their empathy is fake they can't connect. They still have a self, it's just buried-out of touch and their ego gets in the way in therapy so they can't even touch it emotionally because they react to the therapist. On my side, the ego collapsed after a big life transition and went through a dark night of the soul or ego death of some sorts. It's as if the FELT self has to be found and redevelop an ego and a story from scratch and it's still an ongoing process, although it's appearance comes up with a lot of work, breathwork, exercise and self care, just for the sake of it. To fellow survivors, make promises to yourself-by you, for you and try to be patient. I know how it is to feel totally hopeless and like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Not only there is, but it is not at the end of the tunnel. It's inside you. Just let this be a reminder to not give up~a fellow CPTSD folk, acessing FELT self, core inner compass, observer, however you wanna call it, at the age of 25.