Kate Hardy PTSTA-P
Field of audience: All

Language: English
Level of audience: All

‘Boundary Work’ in therapy arguably originated in the early days of Transactional Analysis (TA). Eric Berne refers to ‘Boundaries’ or ‘Boundary Work’ more than 50 times in his seminal, 1961 book Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy. Boundaries can be firm, permeable, rigid or diffuse. They can be argued to be scripted in childhood, shaped by early experiences, and be partially a legacy received from families, ancestors, culture and the wider society.

It is a fascinating question to consider where personal boundaries are held in TA terms. In the Child, Adult or Parent? Possibly all three. This workshop will consider boundaries scripted by the Child ego state and held in the Parent, Cultural Parent and Cultural Script with specific reference to the situations of health changes, ‘dis/ease’ and care giving.

Participants will explore what happens when personal boundaries meet the challenges posed by health changes, aging, illness and the giving and receiving of care. These are an almost universal part of the human life story and life journey, significantly shaped by culture, age and gender amongst other factors.

How does the legacy of the boundaries we internalise from families, culture and the wider society shape how we experience the challenges of the ‘bodymind’ – pain, exhaustion, disability, and the cycles of healing and recovery? How does it shape the way we experience and respond to others? What happens when personal boundaries are overwhelmed by personal needs or the needs of others? What are the personal, professional, and ethical dimensions of the legacy of boundaries?