The Apple and the Core: Reflections on Ego and Self in the Cure Process

Abstract

This article explores a particular aspect of cure: the mutual influence of the elaboration of the ego and the self. Starting with Berne’s assertion that as therapists we should always aim to cure our patients or clients, the author shares some reflections on the relationship between the Adult ego state and the Child ego state and their functional interconnections in therapy. She proposes that curing self-states (working through) can simultaneously orient cure at the level of the Adult ego state (working out). A clinical case illustrates the proposed methodology and some factors promoting cure.

Keywords:

• Transactional analysis
• cure
• ego states
• self-states
• unconscious process
• transference
• countertransference
• relational psychotherapy
• script analysis
• intersubjectivity

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Antonella Fornaro

Antonella Fornaro is a graduate in philosophy and clinical psychology with a specialization in forensic psychopathology. She is a Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy) at Societa’ Italiana per la Formazione in Psicoterapia (SIFP) (Transactional Analysis Specialization School) in Rome. She works privately with adults and adolescents in Rome and Lecce, Italy. Her clinical research interests include the codependent relationship and the new forms of adolescent suffering. Antonella is a member of the Directive Board of the Italian TA association Istituto di Analisi Transazionale (IAT) and is the cofounder of the EleutheriAT, a transactional analysis research and training center. She can be reached at 3 Via Massarosa, 00189 Rome, Italy; email: [email protected].