Transactional
Analysis
Transactional Analysis
Transactional analysis is both a theory of personality and a system for the improvement of personal and social functioning, within the humanistic tradition. Eric Berne, its founder, re-examined the basic assumptions of psychiatry, and from his radical pioneering work developed a system of analysis which can be applied to the structure of the personality, interpersonal transactions, life plans or scripts, and the “games people play”.
It was Eric Berne’s writings on ‘games’ that first drew the public’s attention to TA. People learn to play games in childhood as often the best possible response to family and life circumstances. The motivation in continuing to do so as adults is the need for stimulus, structure and as a substitute for security. Games are predictable patterns of indirect communications using ulterior transactions. They are played out of our awareness. Games analysis identifies these patterns and their consequences.
The philosophy of TA accentuates that respect and empathic acceptance are essential. Its practice is based on a contract between client and practitioner in which they take equal responsibility towards common goals. The methods and concepts used are made open to the client in the understanding that power is shared.
Structural analysis identifies three ego states: the Parent, Adult and Child. It enables us to clarify our life experiences, thoughts and feelings, examining how we learned our beliefs and values from our parents and other parent figures, and how being in different ego states can influence our behaviour and relationships.
Analysis of transactions examines both social and psychological forms of human communication using the ego state model to diagram the types of transactions. Transactions may be open and clear, or combined with ulterior messages. Their analysis provides a way to understand our ‘stroking’ patterns: how we exchange the level of contact and recognition that all humans need in order to thrive.
Script Analysis offers an approach to the question: “How do we get to be the people we are?” The origins are embedded in the history of our childhoods, families, and culture and life experiences. A ‘life script’ develops without our being aware of it, for purposes of survival, approval and security rather than for self-realisation. By analysing our scripts, we can reconsider the decisions we made when we were too little to realise what options existed.
Over the past four decades Eric Berne's theory has evolved to include applications to psychotherapy, counselling, education, and organizational development.
Psychotherapy
Transactional analysis is a powerful tool to bring about human well being. In psychotherapy, transactional analysis utilizes a contract for specific changes desired by the client and involves the "Adult" in both the client and the clinician to sort out behaviours, emotions and thoughts that prevent the development of full human potential. Transactional analysts intervene as they work with clients in a safe, protective, mutually respectful-OK/OK--- environment to eliminate dysfunctional behaviours and establish and reinforce positive relationship styles and healthy functioning. Transactional analysts are able to use the many tools of psychotherapy, ranging from psychodynamic to cognitive behavioural methods in effective and potent ways
Counselling
Counsellors’ who utilise transactional analysis work contractually on solving "here and now" problems. Counselling work focuses on creating productive problem solving behaviours. Using transactional analysis, counsellors establish an egalitarian, safe and mutually respectful working relationship with their clients. This working relationship provides tools clients can utilize in their day-to-day functions to improve the quality of their lives.
Educational
Transactional Analysis is a practical educational psychology that offers a way of transforming educational philosophy and principles into everyday practice. TA concepts provide a flexible and creative approach to understanding how people function and to the connections between human behaviour, learning and education. Teaching them to both teachers and students is a process of empowerment, enhancing effective methods of interaction and mutual recognition.
Educational TA is both preventive and restorative. TA concepts are developed and used with people of all ages and stages of development in their various social settings. The aim is to increase personal autonomy, to support people in developing their own personal and professional philosophies and to enable optimum psychological health and growth.
The key philosophical concepts that underpin Educational TA are:
Effective educators offer empathic acceptance of all human beings as people together with respect for their dignity. These qualities are at the heart of successful learning relationships.
People at any age and stage can learn to take responsibility for their own decisions and actions.Educational difficulties can be addressed effectively with co-operative goodwill and a coherent theoretical framework that makes sense of the human dynamics involved.
The process of educational TA is contractual, so that all parties know where they stand, and what agreements have been made for what purposes. Throughout the process the ideas and methods of TA are used openly to promote informed co-operation and the sharing of power between all parties.
TA can be used to address important issues in:
- Initial and continuing teacher education
- Institutional climate and culture
- Developmental and educational needs
- Self esteem building
- Parent education
- Student motivation
- Staff morale and teacher well-being
- Blocks to learning and teaching
- Behaviour management
- Above all educational TA is invaluable in helping people to thrive and in promoting healthy and effective learning in a wide variety of contexts.
Organizational
Transactional Analysis is a powerful tool in the hands of organizational development specialists. Through presenting the basic concepts of transactional analysis and using it as the basic theory to under gird the objectives of their clients, organizational development specialists build a common strategy with which to address the particular needs of organizations and to build a functional relationship, as well as eliminate dysfunctional organizational behaviours
Key Ideas
I'm OK - You're OK
"I'm OK - You're OK" is probably the best-known expression of the purpose of transactional analysis: to establish and reinforce the position that recognizes the value and worth of every person. Transactional analysts regard people as basically "OK" and thus capable of change, growth, and healthy interactions.
Strokes
Berne observed that people need strokes, the units of interpersonal recognition, to survive and thrive. Understanding how people give and receive positive and negative strokes and changing unhealthy patterns of stroking are powerful aspects of work in transactional analysis.
Ego States
Eric Berne made complex interpersonal transactions understandable when he recognized that the human personality is made up of three "ego states". Each ego state is an entire system of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours from which we interact with one another. The Parent, Adult and Child ego states and the interaction between them form the foundation of transactional analysis theory. These concepts have spread into many areas of therapy, education, and consulting as practiced today.
Transactions
Transactions refer to the communication exchanges between people. Transactional analysts are trained to recognize which ego states people are transacting from and to follow the transactional sequences so they can intervene and improve the quality and effectiveness of communication.
Games People Play
Berne defined certain socially dysfunctional behavioural patterns as "games." These repetitive, devious transactions are principally intended to obtain strokes but instead they reinforce negative feelings and self-concepts, and mask the direct expression of thoughts and emotions. Berne tagged these games with such instantly recognizable names as "Why Don't You, Yes But," "Now I've Got You, You SOB," and "I'm Only Trying to Help You." Berne's book Games People Play achieved wide popular success in the early 60's.
Life Script
Eric Berne proposed that dysfunctional behaviour is the result of self-limiting decisions made in childhood in the interest of survival. Such decisions culminate in what Berne called the "life script," the pre-conscious life plan that governs the way life is lived out. Changing the life script is the aim of transactional analysis psychotherapy. Replacing violent organizational or societal scripting with cooperative non-violent behaviour is the aim of other applications of transactional analysis.
Contracts
Transactional analysis practice is based upon mutual contracting for change. Transactional analysts view people as capable of deciding what they want for their lives. Accordingly transactional analysis does its work on a contractual basis between the client and the therapist, educator, or consultant.
