ABSTRACT
The consultation is a 'transaction' between two individuals. At any point in the consultation, health professional and patient can be in any of three different ego states: parent, adult or child. The natural role of the health professional is as carer and generally patients are feeling vulnerable when they come and see us so the behaviour pattern of doctor or nurse as caring parent and patient as child is not uncommon. A healthier model of the consultation for both health professional and patient is that of two adults. The adult ego state is the one that deals with complex information and makes effective decisions for living in the world. The parent ego state includes caring and nurturing. It also includes being critical and punishing. It is described as a 'borrowed' ego state; a person in the parental ego state uses ways of thinking, feeling and behaving that are borrowed and copied from parents and parental figures in the past.
