ABSTRACT
This chapter traces some links between the capacity for communication in words and the general efficiency of the ego. It discusses that a high degree of verbal accessibility is important to the self-healing of psychic wounds and to using help if offered. Ego strength is a loose but serviceable term to describe the resiliency of a client or patient who is under stress. The authors have seen it in terms of the availability to the person of conflict-free psychological energy and the utility of the mechanisms for coping he has at his disposal. The chapter discusses some of the authors' reasons for believing that the appropriate use of speech enhances growth. Moreover, a high degree of Verbal accessibility (VA) is significant to the healing of psychic wounds, whether this is self-healing or accomplished with professional help. The level of ego integration and VA are undoubtedly interdependent phenomena.
