Adult-ego state is one the three main areas of ego-state model and is represented by a middle circle. The adult-ego state is the state when you’re living in the present and in the now. When you are in the adult-ego state, you are living the moment and are aware of all the options which are available to you.
In this state, you remain in contact with the present and the events of the present.
The feelings you experience could be a response of an event happening around you in the here and now. For example, you can feel sad if a friend is going away. Also, the way you behave and the way you think is linked with how you feel.
In adult-ego state, you are also aware of what is real and what is unreal. For example, you feel jealous, but at the same time you do know that your girlfriend/boyfriend is not going away with someone else. In this state, you are capable of differentiating the real from the unreal. The adult-ego state is the state of source logic and rationality.
And the source of logic and rationality is this state of mind in which you are living in the now and not in some imaginary/past/future moment.
In adult-ego state, you use your problem solving skills if things get complicated and difficult. Being in a rational state, you are able to abstain from spontaneity and intimacy.
When you are not in the adult-ego state, you are in the past (Parent-ego or Child-ego state).
Most of the time we remain in Adult-ego state, but when triggered (by any incident etc) which takes us into our past, we tend to move into either Parent or Child-ego state. This is what we mean when we use the English phrase “pressing our buttons”.
NB: You will find more information on the Adult-ego in contrast to the Parent-ego and Child-ego on these pages. Also, please bear in mind that switching from one ego state to another, depending on circumstances, is given. Such further information is found using the 'search' function at the bottom of the page.
