Transactional Analysis
Transaction: stimulus from one person’s ego state and the corresponding response from
another person’s ego state.
T.A. was originated by Dr. Eric Berne in the 1950s. When Eric Berne discovered his
clients were sometimes thinking, feeling, and behaving like a child and at other times like
a rational adult, he differentiated between two ego states – adult and child. Soon, another
basic aspect of human behavior became evident – the Parent, which is both an
introjection from and an identification with one’s parents.
Although these ego states seem similar to Freud’s id, ego, and superego, Freud’s
structures are hypothetical constructs, while Berne’s ego states are observable
phenomena.
In T. A. the client is provided with specific tools for growth, but is ultimately encouraged
to make his/her own explanations and interpretations. This is different from REBT which
is active and different from psychoanalysis which is more reliant on the unconscious. An
important goal of T. A. is autonomy of the individual – the freedom to be yourself.
Berne believes that each person has an innate need for strokes (recognition) and will
design a lifescript or plan formed during childhood and based upon early beliefs about
oneself and others. This lifescript incorporates all we have learned from watching,
listening, and processing. It is the core of personal identity.
Examples:
I can only be loved if I am successful
Don’t trust anyone
Being honest is most important.
Success is money.
Success is personal achievement.
I am not smart.
I am a bad person.
I am intelligent.
I am a good person.
Some of what we think about ourselves and others came to us in the form of
“injunctions” or early messages from others.
Examples:
Don’t – you can’t do anything right.
Don’t be – I wish you were never born.
Don’t be close – don’t trust or love
Don’t be important – you are nothing.
Don’t be a child – always act grown-up; don’t have fun.
Don’t grow – remain my little boy/girl, no sexual growth.
