The Handbook of Knowledge-Based Coaching: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
by Leni Wildflower, Diane Brennan
EGO STATES
Ego states are the core concept in TA. There are three main behavioral modes, one of which usually predominates at any one time. According to TA, the Parent state is our taught concept of life and is how we replay behavior, thoughts, and feelings we have learned from someone in our past, most usually parents and teachers. This is what provides us with discipline. It is characterized by guilt and “shoulds.” The Parent state has two variants: Controlling and Nurturing.
The Adult state is our thought concept of life. Operating in the here and now, processing information rationally, and making decisions about how to act, it results in the most rational, mature, nonjudgmental, and logical behavior of the three ego states.
In the Child
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