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...is of course a para-Freudian theory which describes the traditional 'ego, super ego and id' in the more accessible terminology of 'Adult, Parent and Child'. Where psychoanalysts might risk alienating their clients by muttering something about an under developed super ego being unable to control the dangerous instinctual urges of the self gratifying id, the transactional analyst would smile benignly and reassuringly remark, "It's okay, your just in Free Child at the moment." That's not to say that the client is being childish, merely that his current frame of mind is reminiscent of a less complicated time in his life when desires were more easily expressed without having to be edited to conform to the expected requirements of society, or modified in any way to obey convention.
Naturally, the Child ego state is the most pleasing to be in for that is where all the most basic physical desires are experienced, as well as being the source of our creativity. However, it is also whilst in this ego state that we are most susceptible to parental influence and control, or the influence of anyone who appears Parental. More worrying, is that whilst in the Child state we feel more vulnerable and therefore in need of Parental protection, to the point that we willingly submit to anyone with the apparent required Parental authority.
As there are many individuals who are predominantly Child driven, there are also a large number of Parents out there in that big wide wonderful world. That is to say, people who's childhood has been so over shadowed by the over bearing attitudes of strict controlling parents, that the only way they can feel like adults is if they emulate the behaviour of their oppressors. They are easy to identify for their psychological position is revealed in their attitudes, behaviour, mannerisms and dress. Even their vocabulary gives them away as it is liberally peppered with "should, must, ought, can't and don't". Their obsession with rules and regulations draws them inevitably towards positions of authority from where they...
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