1) Healthy symbiosis occurs when people are in a situation where it is appropriate to depend on each other, such as when a nurse comforts a patient who has just come out of anesthesia by holding their hand and reassuring them. 2) In this situation, the patient's adult and parent parts are not functioning due to the anesthesia, so they regress to a childlike state and allow the nurse to care for them and address their current problems. 3) The nurse taking on a supportive parental role in comforting and reassuring the patient is fulfilling their job responsibilities in a healthy symbiotic relationship, in contrast to an unhealthy symbiosis which would involve discounting the other person.

1. Healthy Symbiosis
Transactional Analysis

2. Prepared By
Manu Melwin Joy
Assistant Professor
Ilahia School of Management Studies
Kerala, India.
Phone – 9744551114
Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com
Kindly restrict the use of slides for personal purpose.
Please seek permission to reproduce the same in public forms and presentations.

3. Healthy Symbiosis
There are some situations
in which it is appropriate
for people to be in
symbiosis. This is known
as healthy symbiosis.

4. Healthy Symbiosis
For example, I have just
come out from under
anesthetic after an
operation. Nurse is holding
my hands and telling : “ You
will be alright. Just hang one
to my hand”. At that point,
my Adult and Parent are out
of commission.

5. Healthy Symbiosis
I am in no condition to
start assessing here and
now problems. I don’t
have the energy to access
the messages I got from
my parents about how to
look after myself.

6. Healthy Symbiosis
I am doing what is
appropriate for me to do :
regressing to being a child
again, feeling my pain and
letting myself be cared for.

7. Healthy Symbiosis
The nurse is giving the
parent and the adult input I
needed. She is dealing with
my current problems while
giving me protection and
reassurance. This is her job,
so she also is appropriately
in her symbiotic position.

8. Healthy Symbiosis
In Schiffian terms, we say
that the nurse and the
patient are in healthy
symbiosis. When the word
symbiosis is used alone, it
normally implies unhealthy
symbiosis.

9. Healthy Symbiosis
How do we distinguish
formally between healthy
and unhealthy symbiosis?
The answer is that a
symbiosis will be unhealthy
whenever it involves
discounting.

10. References

11. Thank You