Abstract
In light of recent infant research which shows that mother and infant interactively influence one another from birth, the concept of symbiosis appears to have diminished theoretical usefulness for explaining script formation. Alternatively, the concept of reciprocity is more congruent with developmental research and also provides a better understanding of intersubjective experience in the psychotherapeutic relationship. This article is a preliminary effort to integrate the developmental concepts of transactional analysis with psychodynamic theory, infant research, and social psychiatry as understood by Berne.