Introduction

Ego state and self-state are terms from transactional analysis and psychoanalysis respectively. Ego states and self-states can also be applied to physical sensations and used in work with touch in ways that are similar to how they are used in talk therapy. The terms ego state or self-state can be used in processing and symbolizing embodied experiences that become more integrated into the patient’s sense of self. Body experiences from different ages, symbolized as a child ego state or self-state, can be integrated and transformed through therapeutic physical contact. The author make use of several terms to describe the physical interactions of patient and therapist within therapy. These include embodied therapy, body psychotherapy, touch, physical contact, and physical engagement. He uses them because body-to-body contact in treatment is complex and expansive, and he want to use words that symbolize this expansiveness rather than reducing it to just generic "touch".