Ego States

The concept of Ego States deals with how people treat others. It also includes the factors that may affect the way individuals treat their fellows. It is about what people think, how they feel and consequently now they behave. The perceptions we hold about other people is a form in which ego states exist. Ego states may affect us negatively. One who was abused in childhood may use the same against others. This could be very unfortunate. Sometimes the Ego States within and an individual may make them make mistakes or treat people inappropriately.

Adult Ego, Parent Ego, and Child Ego

There are three ego states. They are Child ego, Adult Ego, and Parent Ego states. The three different states of ego determine and affect the way people treat others in different circumstances and situations. The Parent Ego, for example, is the set of behaving in a manner that one copied from parents, guardians or other parental figures. It also involves copying of the way of thinking and the way one feels about situations or other people. It is likely to be more learning of the way one feels, thinks and behaves if one is brought up in an extended family. The more the people a child learns from, the more his behavior, feelings and way of thinking are all affected. This may be explained as that an individual may treat other people the way they were treated or saw others being treated. The Child Ego State is whereby the behaviors thoughts and also feelings are usually replayed. One remembers past experiences. They may be both positive and negative memories. When something happens that had previously occurred, it is replayed, or one gets memories. Adult Ego State involves dealing with the situations and people as they are and not depending on past experiences or what has been learned earlier in life. This state may be characterized by clarification of issues to avoid assumptions.

Ego States Therapy

Ego State Therapy is important and should be recommended for individuals with problems related to behavioral nature and cognitive nature. Therapy techniques commonly used and applied in the family and group therapy is applied in Ego state therapy. The therapist attempts t identifies characteristics for each ego state in an individual after which he or she uses techniques for example hypnosis for the patient. The aim of Ego State Therapy is in resolving and solving conflicts within the individual patient.