What is Transactional Analysis?
About Transactional Analysis (TA) ...
Transactional Analysis is a theory of personality that can be used for personal growth and development.
Transactional Analysis sounds complicated, but is an easy way of describing:
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Relationships, how they work and don't work
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How our past relationships affect our current life and problems
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How we can use TA to become more aware and make better choices
Transactional Analysis was developed by Eric Berne in the late 1950's
Eric Berne was a Canadian-born psychiatrist and the son of a doctor. He believed that psychiatry and counselling should aim to cure people, not leave them with lifelong incapacity.
He wanted to develop simple tools and ways of explaining things that everyone could understand, and therefore use. He did not believe in 'psycho-babble'.
His philosophy (and the philosophy of TA) is simple:
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People are OK (even if their behaviour may not be). Each and every person is important and worth respect. This includes You, and it includes Me.
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All people need positives from themselves and other people in order to feel OK. In TA these are called 'positive strokes', such as 'well done', 'fantastic', and even 'Hello'. Smiling is also a positive stroke.
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Everyone, with the possible exception of the severely brain-injured, has the capacity to think. This means that you can think (even if it doesn't always feel like it).
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If we can think, then each of us has the capacity to choose, to make choices
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We often made choices earlier in our lives (in childhood) in response to what was happening to us then. These choices may have protected us or kept us safe. We may make the same choices now automatically (for example, not to trust others, or to never say no), but they do not serve us so well now.
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By becoming more aware of our choices, why we made them and how we grew as individuals we can use tools within TA to make changes
Ego States
Each of us has set ways of thinking, behaving and feeling which we picked up in childhood either from our parent figures or from ways in which we coped with our lives as children. This idea gives us a way of looking at the beliefs that we hold, the decisions we've made as children and adults, and whether we want to change those things or not.
Transactions
Not only do we have set ways of thinking, behaving and feeling depending on our circumstances, but so do other people. This effects the way we and they communicate.
For example, I may talk to you very critically (from my Parent Ego State), and if you reply from your Parent Ego State ('Don't tell me what to do!'), we are likely to have conflict.
Or I may relate to people from my Child Ego State and come across as a victim because I wasn't listened to as a child and don't feel listened to now. This can cause me problems.
Strokes
As babies and very young children we needed two basic things: to have our physical needs met; and to feel loved. As we grew our emotional needs grew. We wanted to be listened to. We needed to feel valued and wanted. We needed freedom to explore and safety to know when it wasn't safe.
Unfortunately, our needs were not always met. We learned that it was not always possible to get positive strokes from others, and it wasn't always a good idea to give positive strokes to others. So we adapted.
As Adults, we sometimes struggle to receive compliments, or be sociable, or feel part of a group. We may feel unloved even within a loving relationship. We may be overly dependent on a destructive relationship because we want to be loved. Through therapy, we can relearn how to give and receive positive strokes.
We can also relearn one of the other things that we may have lost in childhood: that we are really OK and that other people are really OK (even if our or their behaviour may not be).
Life Scripts and Games
The decisions we made in childhood (such as not to trust, or to work hard but never succeed) become a life plan which we take into adulthood. We accept those things in our lives that reinforce our basic beliefs and ways of doing things, and we reject or ignore those things that don't fit our 'script'.
This is our personal life story, our play, our way of being in the world and coping with the things in our lives. Our script is mostly unconscious and we play games which reinforce our script throughout our lifetime (also unconsciously).
There is much more to Transactional Analysis, but I hope this has given you a flavour of the excellent tools available within TA Therapy.
However, please be reassured, these tools will not be used to overwhelm you with information or work. The Therapeutic Relationship must above all be safe and at the client's own pace. There will be a lot of time spent talking together as well as using some of these tools where needed.