and gain clarity about their own patterns of relating (10).
At the core of Berne's Transactional Theory is the concept of ego state which he defines as "a consistent pattern of feeling and experience directly related to a corresponding consistent pattern of behavior" (17). According to Berne, every individual possesses three distinctive ego states: Parent, Adult, and Child. The Parent ego state often expresses itself in "prejudicial, critical and nurturing behavior" toward others (18). It contains the attitudes and behaviors incorporated from external sources, primarily parents (17). The Adult ego state operates through an "objective gathering of information", is
"oriented to current reality" and in an "organized, adaptable, intelligent" manner "functions by testing reality, estimating probabilities, and computing dispassionately" (18). The Child ego state expresses itself through an old or archaic behavior preserved from childhood. It contains "recordings of the child's earliest experiences, responses, a
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