What is the meaning of self-reparenting?

Answer 1

Self-reparenting is commonly understood as a modified application of Eric Berne's psycho-analytically informed theory of Transactional Analysis (TA). TA suggests three ego states individuals operate from, the child state, adult state, and parent state. While TA emphasizes the interaction between one of these ego states and the ego state of another person, self-parenting focuses on internal interactions between one's parent ego state and their own child ego state. Self-parenting, then, is a way for an individual to interact with and influence that part of their psyche in which emotional beliefs reside and from which conditioned responses emerge. For example, if an individual has low self-esteem, their child ego state believes they are inherently inadequate. Self-parenting engages the child ego state with the parent ego state (informed by the rational adult ego state), allowing one's feelings to be validated, explored, and influenced by the beliefs taught by the parent ego state. In this way, one can "reparent" their child ego states, as they should've been parented in literal childhood, so that they internalize true beliefs and associated healthy responses.

Answer 2

Self-reparenting is a psychological concept where an individual learns to provide themselves with the care, support, and nurturing that they may have lacked in childhood. This process involves recognizing and addressing one's unmet emotional needs through self-compassion, self-soothing, and self-validation to promote healing and growth. Essentially, it involves becoming one's own source of emotional support and guidance.