Core Self, Sense of Self, and Whole Self: The Potential for Harm in Using Personality Disorder Diagnoses

Abstract

This article explores how the use of personality disorder diagnoses can contribute to the pathologizing of trauma and distress and result in labeling and the subsequent marginalization of survivors of childhood trauma. The author considers the theory and practice of transactional analysis (TA) and how TA practitioners may collude with these norms. An alternative framework for working with people diagnosed with a personality disorder is proposed. The author identifies the value of clarifying the term self within transactional analysis theory, using the model of self and ego developed by Cox to map concepts of self proposed by Berne. Using case material from a TA-based therapeutic community, the author demonstrates how differentiating between the concepts of core self, a sense of self, and whole self can aid resilience, recovery, and empowerment in people who have been diagnosed with personality disorders.