Abstract
This article considers how new ways in which a client and therapist relate emerge out of old ways the client related to others, with the subsequent transformation of maladaptive schemas and ego state relational units (Little, 2006) into more adaptive schemas. The author explores the nature of the client’s pathology and maladaptive relational schemas and the therapeutic action that might be transformative for the client. He also examines a modern perspective on the transference-countertransference matrix and explores further the concept of optimal neutrality.
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.
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Notes on contributors
Ray Little
Ray Little is a Certified Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy) and a psychotherapist, supervisor, and trainer who maintains a private practice in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has been working as a counselor and psychotherapist for over 30 years. He also facilitates supervision groups and professional development seminars in both Edinburgh and London and is a visiting tutor at psychotherapy training institutes in Madrid, Ljubljana, and London. Ray is a founding member of the International Association for Relational Transactional Analysis and is interested in incorporating psychodynamic and relational psychoanalysis concepts into a relational transactional analysis, with particular emphasis on working with primitive states of mind. Ray can be reached at 4/2 Oxford Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9PJ, United Kingdom; email: [email protected] .