When we came up with the theme for this special edition of the Transactional Analysis Journal—“Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: The Parent Ego State Revisited”—we did not anticipate how much consternation it would cause, especially the first part. Many potential authors were concerned that we were expecting deference and submission to our transactional analysis forefathers and foremothers rather than what we had in mind.
To give some background, the phrase “standing on the shoulders of giants” was first coined by French philosopher Bernard of Chartres around 1130 and quoted by John of Salisbury in his Metalogican of 1159. It is often misattributed to Isaac Newton.
We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size. (Salisbury, Citation1955, p. 167)
Although it is not difficult to see how deference and submission could be taken from this quote, we hoped, instead, to invite authors to write about how they now see farther and have developed their own thinking from original ideas about the Parent ego state. For example, do they continue to find relevance in the concept of the Parent ego state? If so, how do they currently use it, and what are some of the theories that inform their work now?
Once this was understood, as you will see, our authors responded with a rich variety of articles. They cover a range of topics spanning all fields of transactional analysis, and each is strongly rooted in the author’s working experience There is appropriate acknowledgment given to our transactional analysis forebearers, and exciting new developments in theory and practice are shared. It is our hope that this theme issue offers TAJ readers the opportunity to engage with theory in a particular way, one that fosters experimentation and imagination, much like in a research lab.
To begin, Carole Shadbolt offers a fascinating case study about her work, which she considers to be an extension of the work of McNeel (Citation1976) and Clarkson (Citation1992). In “The Sorrow of Ghosts: The Emergement of a Traumatized Parent Ego State,” Shadbolt provides a moving description of the relational unfolding of a client’s transgenerational trauma as it finally finds witness in the therapeutic dyad. As the work develops, it becomes apparent that the witness is found in the psychotherapist’s direct understanding of her own familial history regarding World War II.
Moving forward, in “It Depends on How You Hug Me: Theoretical Perspectives on the Life of an Infant and Its Family,” Cinzia Chiesa presents a very present-day theme. She recounts the birth of her second child and the first months of his life while integrating various theoretical considerations regarding the construction of her personal parenting style and the impact of her son’s birth on the family unit.
Many of us have memories of Giles Barrow turning ego states on their head at the ITAA Conference in 2007, such a potentially audacious and thought-provoking thing to do. In “For Whom Is the Teacher and for What Is the Teaching? An Educational Reframe of the Parent Ego State,” he turns these ideas into what we believe will be a valuable article with a focus on implications for educators. He especially cites and reflects on ideas from Biesta (Citation2017) regarding grown-up-ness and eldership.
To follow on the theme of educating young people and those who work with them, Mica Douglas presents an article regarding the value of educating foster parents in a therapeutic model. In “Using Transactional Analysis to Help Foster Parents Develop Therapeutic Parenting Skills,” she offers moving and stimulating ideas about how looked after children almost necessarily need a different parenting approach.
On an organizational note, in “Values-Based Leadership and the Organizational Parent System,” Maarten Kouwenhoven shares his view of how an organizational Parent system (OPS) can be effective in organizations by enhancing leadership styles and talents. He pays particular attention to reputation management and the importance of a moral steering system.
Phil Anthony follows with a thoughtful article in which he shares his view that recently the role of the Parent ego state in psychotherapy has been neglected. In “Managing the Therapeutic Relationship: Parental Roles,” he identifies five areas for us to consider in relation to the appropriate use of the therapist’s Parent ego state.
The final article in this issue is Adrienne Lee’s on “The Mirror Exercise and the Restructuring of the Parent-Child Relational Unit.” She presents the mirror exercise as a method of updating, restructuring, and enlivening the dynamic between the Parent and Child ego states and emphasizes the importance of intrapsychic relating to enable Adult integration.
We are delighted to present such a rich and diverse group of articles on this theme. We hope that they offer a robust platform for reflection and that you find them valuable contributions to the development of transactional analysis theory and practice.
References
- Biesta, G. J. J. (2017). The rediscovery of teaching. Abingdon, England: Routledge.
- Clarkson, P. (1992). Transactional analysis psychotherapy: An integrated approach. London: Routledge.
- McNeel, J. R. (1976). The parent interview. Transactional Analysis Journal, 6, 61–68. doi:10.1177/036215377600600114
- Salisbury, J. (1955). The Metalogicon: A twelfth-century defense of the verbal and logical arts of the trivium (D. McGarry, Trans.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.