Abstract
In light of recent infant research which shows that mother and infant interactively influence one another from birth, the concept of symbiosis appears to have diminished theoretical usefulness for explaining script formation. Alternatively, the concept of reciprocity is more congruent with developmental research and also provides a better understanding of intersubjective experience in the psychotherapeutic relationship. This article is a preliminary effort to integrate the developmental concepts of transactional analysis with psychodynamic theory, infant research, and social psychiatry as understood by Berne.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berne
E.
(1972 ). What do you say after you say hello?
New York : Bantam Books .
2.
Brazelton
T. B.
Koslowski
B.
Main
M.
(1974 ). The origins of reciprocity: The early mother-infant interaction . In
Lewis
M.
Rosenblum
L. A.
(Eds.), The effect of the infant on its caregiver (pp. 49 –76 ). New York : Wiley Interscience .
3.
Cornell
W. F.
(1988 ). Life script theory: A critical review from a developmental perspective . Transactional Analysis Journal , 18 , 270 –282 .
4.
Emde
R. N.
(1980 ). Emotional availability: A reciprocal reward system for infants and parents with implications for prevention of psychosocial disorders . In
Taylor
P. M.
(Ed.), Parent-infant relationships (pp. 87 –115 ). Orlando, FL : Grune & Stratton .
5.
Erskine
R. G.
Zalcman
M.
(1979 ). The racket system . Transactional Analysis Journal , 9 , 51 –59 .
6.
Joines
V.
(1976 ). A developmental therapeutic roadmap . Transactional Analysis Journal , 6 , 187 –191 .
7.
Klein
M.
(1932 ). The psycho-analysis of children . London : Hogarth Press .
8.
Levin-Landheer
P.
(1982 ). The cycle of development . Transactional Analysis Journal , 12 , 129 –139 .
9.
Lichtenburg
J.
(1983 ). Psychoanalysis and infant research . Hillsdale, NJ : Analytic Press .
10.
Mahler
M. S.
Pine
F.
Bergman
A.
(1975 ). The psychological birth of the human infant: Symbiosis and individuation . New York : Basic Books .
11.
Peterfreund
E.
(1978 ). Some critical comments on psychoanalytic conceptualizations of infancy . International Journal of Psychoanalysis , 59 , 427 –41 .
12.
Schiff
J. L.
Schiff
A.
Mellor
K.
Schiff
E.
Schiff
S.
Richman
D.
Fishman
J.
Wolz
L.
Fishman
C.
Momb
D.
(1975 ). Cathexis Reader: Transactional analysis treatment of psychosis . New York : Harper & Row .
13.
Schiff
S.
(1977 ). Personality development and symbiosis . Transactional Analysis Journal , 7 , 310 –16 .
14.
Steiner
C.
(1971 ). Games alcoholics play . New York : Grove Press .
15.
Steiner
C.
(1974 ). Scripts people live . New York : Grove Press .
16.
Stern
D. N.
(1985 ). The interpersonal world of the infant: A view from psychoanalysis and developmental psychology . New York : Basic Books .