Rechilding: Creating a New Past in the Present as a Support for the Future

Abstract

A diagram summarizing the major methods of transactional analysis treatment of ego states is presented, followed by a brief description of each. A fifth category of ego state intervention is introduced, and the term “rechilding” is suggested to describe the creation of ego states that are congruent with developmentally earlier psychophysiological levels in intact adult personalities. The authors then discuss how rechilding can be employed in conjunction with other established theory and practice to achieve stability under stress. This material is illustrated by clinical examples, and diagrams are presented which help make these concepts more accessible to clients in planning their therapy. The article describes one way in which Berne's original phenomenological model of ego states (see, for example, Clarkson & Gilbert, 1988, pp. 20–29) can be expanded to incorporate new concepts which can be applied in clinical practice.

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