The Experience of Anxiety in Body and Mind: A Transactional Analysis Perspective

Abstract

Anxiety occurs in both the body and the mind, with explicit aspects (e.g., reported symptoms and emotions) and implicit aspects (e.g., thoughts, prejudices, and internalized traumatic experiences) that are unexplored even by the anxious individual. During the diagnosis and treatment process, the goal is to build bridges between these aspects, give new meanings to them, and foster the growth of individuals trapped in their symptoms. The body, which was previously anxious, unpredictable, and insecure, gradually becomes a source of needs, desires, and resources that can be understood and addressed. Transactional analysis (especially the concepts of ego states and script) can be a guide to interpreting the transformation of internalized relationships that reverberate in the therapeutic relationship. The clinical dialogue is a space in which the body, once deadened by symptoms, can rediscover its potential. Some clinical examples accompany theoretical reflections.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• internal dialogue
• bodyscript
• symptom
• transactional analysis
• script

Disclosure Statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susanna Ligabue

Susanna Ligabue, licensed psychologist and psychotherapist, Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy) (EATA-ITAA), is a founder fellow of Centro di Psicologia e Analisi Transazionale (1989) and president of CPAT, an Italian TA association directly linked to EATA. She works in Milan and with Terrenuove (1998), a social cooperative working with refugees, migrant families, and unaccompanied minors. She is a teaching and supervising staff member in the Scuola di specializzazione in psicoterapia del Centro di Psicologia e Analisi Transazionale di Milano [Postgraduate School of Specialization in Psychotherapy of Center of Psychology and TA in Milan], which is recognized by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. She was director there from 1999-2010. Susanna is a founder fellow (1989) of ATc-TA Counselling School in Milan, where she is now on the teaching and supervising staff. The author of more than 50 articles published on Italian and non-Italian books and specialized reviews, she is a member of the editorial board since 1990 and is now codirector of the journal Quaderni di Psicologia, Analisi Transazionale e Scienze Umane, being the editor and the author of many articles on script and bodyscript, emotions, and traumatic experiences. She is also a member of the editorial board of the Istituto di Analisi Transazionale (IAT) journal and of the Transactional Analysis Journal. Susanna can be reached at Centro di Psicologia e AT, Via Archimede 127, Milan (20129), Italy; email: [email protected].

Paola M. Tenconi

Paola M. Tenconi, MD (1987), did postgraduate work in hematology and is a licensed psychotherapist, a Provisional Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy) (EATA and ITAA), a member of Centro di Psicologia e Analisi Transazionale (CPAT), and teaches in the Scuola di specializzazione in psicoterapia del Centro di Psicologia e Analisi Transazionale di Milano [Postgraduate School of Specialization in Psychotherapy of Center of Psychology and TA in Milan], which is recognized by the Italian Ministry of University and Research. Paola lives in Milan and works in Milan and in the neighborhood (Gallarate) in private practice mainly with adults. She is currently investigating one of her main interests: body and mind interaction. Paola can be reached at 20121 Milan, Piazza San Marco 1, Italy; email: [email protected].