I Have Found the Enemy and It Is Me

Abstract

The author shares Little’s (2013) experience that ego state relational units form the basis for characterological structure and that it is through experiencing them in the therapeutic relationship that they can be brought to awareness and transformed. These units involve split-off parts of the self that are projected rather than experienced because they were viewed by parents and/or the self as not OK. As they are mutually experienced and explored by therapist and client together, they can be reclaimed and used productively.

• ego state relational units
• symbiotic
• relational approach
• impasse
• closed system
• open system
• integrated autonomous functioning
• projection
• transference and countertransference
• projection screen
• self-concept

Notes

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

Funding The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vann Joines

Author Biography

Vann S. Joines, PhD, Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy), is president and director of the Southeast Institute for Group and Family Therapy, Chapel Hill, NC. There he teaches, trains, and supervises other mental health professionals as well as maintains a private practice. He can be reached at 659 Edwards Ridge, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, USA; phone: [phone]; email: [email protected].