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What is the rescripted self?

In general, we can say that there are two primary goals in life: the first to function competently in the world, and the second to live life with emotional wellbeing. The rescripted self refers to a person who has achieved both competency and success in life, and who has attained a state of being that is characterized by happiness and wellbeing. Wellbeing is organic; it is not a static state of being, but a dynamic state of becoming.

The cognitive and behavioral skills we learn in life set the scaffolding from which wellbeing can emerge. We are what we were, and become where we go. Rescripting refers to experiencing the past differently. By rescripting the past we change who we are and by doing and living our future, we become that future now.

About the Author

Robert Kayton is a retired clinical psychologist who practiced psychotherapy for over 40 years. In addition to his private practice he was a consultant to many agencies, was Director of several mental health centers, and held such academic positions as: Associate Clinical Professor at the George Washington University Medical School, faculty member at the Washington School of Psychiatry, and a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Maryland in College Park.

He received his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, did his clinical internship at the Northwestern University Medical School, and a post-doctoral at the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute in Chicago.

Dr. Kayton was Director of the Center for Anxiety and Stress in Bethesda Maryland, and Co-Director of the Center for Depression in Washington D.C. At the Prince George's County Mental Health Department, he was Chief Psychologist, Director of the Outpatient Clinic, and Director of Research. In addition to his private clinical practice, he was among the first psychologists in the nation to have a private hospital practice as an Attending Psychologist at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington D.C. He has also appeared on local and national television and has published numerous articles in various magazines.

He was originally trained as a psychoanalyst, and was a supervisor of psychoanalysis at the George Washington University Medical School, Department of Psychiatry. An eclectic at heart, he began training in many other clinical approaches; these included Jungian Therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), Interpersonal therapy, hypnosis, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. In 1991, he began studying Silvan S. Tomkins' Affect-Script theory at the Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia and was the organizer and leader of the Silvan S. Tomkins Institute study group in the Washington, D.C. area. This launched his intensive study of neuroscience, which ultimately led to this book.

Contact information

Robert Kayton can be reached by email at drrobertkayton@gmail.com.