CHAPTER THIRTEEN

TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS OF ERIC BERNE

BY
NWOKOLO CHINYELU PHD
&
REV SR AMAKA OBINELI

Transactional Analysis of Eric Berne

Historical Background
The major proponent of Transaction Analysis, Eric Berne, was born on May 10, 1910
in Montreal Canada as Eric Leonard Bernstein, he son of Dr David Bernestein a general
practitioner. His only sibling, Grace was born 5 years later. After the father’s death at the age
of 38, Eric’s mother encouraged him to follow his father’s footsteps and study medicine. He
received an MD and Master of Surgery from McGill University Medical School in 1935.
Berne interned in the United States at Englewood hospital in New Jersey. Sometimes around
1938, Berne became an American citizen and shortened his name from Eric Leonard
Bernstein to Eric Berne. Dr Berne served in the US army medical corps from 1943-1964,
rising from first Lieutenant to Major. It was while in he military service that he found group
therapy and thereafter stared to develop his own approach, in the early 50’s. He first began to
use the idea regularly and by 1956, the need for the principles of Transactional Analysis had
emerged with sufficient clarity to indicate a more systematized on-going therapeutic
programme.
He was a prolific writer and has written many books including, The Mind in Action
(1984) A laymen’s Guide to psychiatry and psychoanalysis (1957). Transactional Analysis a
Psychotherapy (1961). Structure and Dynamics of Organizations and Groups (1963). Games
People Play (1964) Principles and Group Treatment (1966) Sex in Human Loving (1970) and
what do you say after you say hello (1972).
After his death in 1970, the growth of Transactional Analysis continued. His work has
been developed by the many adherents of Transactional Association. Including Claude
Steiner, Carmen Kerr and Thomas Harris, among others.
Berne’s views on human behaviour were influenced by the Freudian theory, Alfred
Alder’s notions of life style, Carl Jung’s archetype’s and wholeness, and Stack Sullivan and
some other non-Freudians. However, these influences did not overshadow his originality,
imagination and creativity in his conceptualization and descriptions of human behaviour and
motivations.

Philosophy and Concept of Human Nature

The Transactional theory of personality is also a theory of life (Berne 1965).
According to him, every individual is born with the capacity to develop his potentials to the
best advantage of himself and society. To enjoy himself and to be able to work productively
and creatively and to be free of psychological disabilities. Transactional Analysis believes
that each individual is ultimately responsible for his own life decisions. It is also a basic
assumption in Transactional Analysis that all clients need total cure instead of being helped.
Transactional Analysis views men as beings that develop mental attitudes that
influence all their transactions.
His mental attitude he called life positions; which is about I and You being Ok or not
Ok. However, Transactional Analysis constructs the following classification of life positions
in respect of oneself and others.
1. I am not O.k; You are O.k.
2. I am not OK; You are not O.k.
3. I am O.k; You are not Ok,
4. I am O.k; You are O.k. (Harris, 1969).

1. I am not O.k; You are O.k.

The general observations about position are that by the end of the second year of life,
or sometimes during the third year, he child has decided on the first life positions. The “I am
not O.k; You are O.k.”, is the first tentative decision based on the experiences of the first year
of life. This is the most common life position, especially in those seeking counselling. It is a
depreciating position that sees the self as inadequate and others as adequate. It is a depressive
state, compelling people to be disintegrated and deferential to others to procure strokes.
Suicide is popular with people in this position who feel so based about themselves in
comparison to others that they seek to end their misery through suicide.

2. I am not OK; You are not O.k.

By the end of the second year of life, the first position is either confirmed and settled
or it gives way to the second position. “I am not O.k., You are not O.k; This is the position
adopted by children who have been rejected by their parents and think that there is something
wrong with them, (I am not Ok.) This feeling of personal hopelessness is generalized to
everyone. They receive no stroke from their parents and none from their peers, therefore no
one is O.k. Depression and despair are common manifestations of this position. The child or
individual may stay for the res of his or her life in this position, unless he or she later
consciously changes it to third or fourth position.

3. I am O.k; You are not Ok

This position is adopted by self-centered, arrogant people who believed that in this
world they are right and others are wrong. No one else can be trusted. It is a paranoid position
that distorts the person’s objectivity about both self and others. Less extreme form of this
position is “do gooders”, who see themselves as above others, but are willing to lower
themselves to help them.’

4. I am O.k; You are O.k.

This is the healthiest position to hold Unfortunately, it is infrequently adopted. This
position maintains basic acceptance of self and others and trusts their growth to be positive. It
must be adopted early in life; it would be very difficult to adopt later because the individual’s
prior learning will blas their life position.(Harris, 1969).

Counselling Goals
According to Eric Berne, the ultimate goal of Transactional Analysis is structural
adjustment and re-integration of the individual. Specifically it is meant to:
1. Help the client to identify and decontaminate any ego state that has been distorted.
2. Help the client to be able to use all ego states when appropriate. This means to either
build effective ego boundaries or make rigid boundaries more flexible.
3. Help the client to free the Adult ego state towards reality principles that will enable
him use reason and to grow productively.
4. Help the client to achieve complementarily with the therapist in the transactional-
analysis.
5. Help the client to discard an inappropriate life script and replace it with a productive
script.
6. Help the client to develop the capacity to use all their ego stales as situations warrant.
7. Help the client to evaluate and alter an appropriate life position and adopt “I am O.k;
you are O.k”.

Counselling Process
The knowledge of the theory of and the Language is a necessary perquisite for
effective group or individual counselling. The client is thus taught the theory through
readings, workshop and instructions.
The theory as a system consists of the behaviour of the client in terms of roles in the
transactions with the Therapist as a role partner. The transactional approach exposes or
evokes implicit roles and repetition of old adaptive patterns. This leads to complementarities
in the client-therapy relationship, resulting in disequilibrium which makes re-equilibrium
possible. The old receptive processes arrdisrupted and a new system established.

It is from behaviour with the therapeutic transaction that understanding and change
arise, not from insight. Implicit rule are made explicit, by being brought into awareness and
control. The behaviour in the two-person transaction underlines progressive changes in
relationships with other people in other environment.
However the five stages of counselling are:
1. Structural Analysis.
This is the first stage of counselling. It help client to identify their ego states and to recognize
the operation of each state. Work will deal with development of boundaries, contamination,
and stabilization so that the adult can take his rightful places of maintaining control.
Treatment may not need to go beyond this first step, if the ego is relatively well-develop, and
the child and parents are able to respond to the adult, and yet be distinct from him other.
2. Transaction Analysis
The second step of counselling is to understand the transaction one make with others.
Contaminated, crossed and complementary transactions are taught by analyzing the clients
transaction and those of the group members, if counselling is be conducted in a group. This is
a prerequisite for the third step. This is because transaction analysis believe, that anybody can
study and learn about one’s self can also understand other people in one’s life and thus can
try to improve on one’s relationship with others.
3. Games Analysis.
Engagement in games is analyzed. The counselor must be able to help the client to
determine the payoff gained from games. Games are emphasized since they are dishonest
transactions and yield no lasting or profitable gain. The objective is to enable the client to
stop playing games, and to take the appropriate risk to seek intimacy. Games can be defined
as set of transaction undertaken with a concealed motive, which are self- defeating or
basically dishonest to the disadvantage of the receiver. They are different from games
associated with play and sports. Here games are used figuratively.

4. Script Analysis.
Scripts are series of games that are organized into a recurring theme, such as a series
of games which makes the subject a victim and consequently helpless. They are indicated by
one’s life position. Unless interrupted, scripts will last for time and pass on to one’s children.
A script analysis serves analysis serves to identify one’s script, to recognize its theme and its
relationship to the chosen life position. This is a difficult step, since it requires clients to see
their

5. Relationship Analysis.
This final step in counselling is used as a home work to help the client to distinguish and
clarify the ego state and its transaction. The client may be asked to find another person with
whom complementary transaction may be achieved naturally in a real life situation. When the
client become aware of the nature of his implicit role, he takes flight from the transaction.
Here ego state consist of three part (the parent ego, the adult ego state and the child ego). We
have parent ego, adult ego and child ego where parent ego represents parental figure to blame
and praise the child; while adult ego refer to the social reality to the child is subjected; and
the child ego refers to the child as he reacts to the external world. The parent the adult and the
child do not refer to people but to psychological realities.

Counselling Techniques in Transactional Analysis

1. Interrogation: This is used to obtain information about the client and his
problems. Questions are asked about the origin of the problem, the life style of the
client and his relationship. Care should be taken not to ask for more information than is
needed. Questions should be directed to the client’s adult and as such it should be used when
the counselor is confident that the client’s adult will respond. (Harris, 1969).

Interrogation
1. Counsellor: How are you and your father getting along? Susan: I have been… I have
been very good to my father Cousellor: How’s your mother?
Susan: we have been closer than we have been, and I have been affectionate to both of them.
I have been trying to be some kind of a daughter that they can like now because, I don’t
know, I am developing a guilt complex about…. I feel that I have been so rotten and
everything.

2. Specification: This is used to direct the client to what she said and fix them in her
mind so that she would not deny what she said or meant.
For example, an adaptation from Harris (1969) Specification.
Counsellor: Why don’t you talk about your Parent-Adult-Child?
Susan: Ob, I can’t today. I can’t use it, I am not using it now. I am dealing with everything
totally, Isn’t that what you are saying?
Susan: When did I say that to you?
Counselor: Well, that’s what you are implying.

3. Confrontation: The counsellor use information obtained and specified to point out
inconsistencies. This expected to energize the uncontaminated part of the client’s adult. If
successful, the client responds insightfully. For example an adaptation from Harris (1969).
Confrontation:
Counsellor: So you want to play Den nervous today.
Susan: No, I don’t want to play anything. I want a stronger tranquilizer.
Counsellor: You want a stronger tranquilizer to use your Parent Adult Child.
Susan: I’ve been using it, and I did try, but I am short-tempered and I.

4. Explanation: Here, the counsellor explains the inconsistencies to the client. The aim
is to decontaminate or re-orient the adult.

5. Illustration: This is "an anecdote, simile, or comparison that follows a successful

confrontation for the purpose of reinforcing the confrontation and softening its possible
undesirable effects" (Berne, 1966): Illustration should be light, lively or humorous and should
be intelligible to the child as well as to the Adult of the patient.

6. Confirmation: Here the Counsellor reinforces the material offered by the client to
confirm his or her confrontation. The key verb here is reinforcing.
7. Interpretation: In Interpretation, the counsellor attempts to decode the past experiences
of the client's child which are presented in coded form. He then goes ahead to rectify
distortions, and help the client to reorganize his or experiences.

8. Crystallization: This is a statement of the client's position 'in factual and

straightforward objective terms. The counsellor tells the client his or her potentialities and
what he or she can do if he or she stops playing games. He makes it clear to the client that it
is within his or her powers to function normally if he or she chooses to do so. The client may
attempt to resist this approach to well-being but the resistance must be dealt with (possibly by
further confrontation and explanation). However, the client should not be rushed so that, he
or she does not become unwell psychologically and develop somatic symptoms.

Criticisms
Strength
Transactional Analysis literature is more interesting to read and easy to understand Teaching
the concepts and labels openly to clients makes it easier for them to get better as they are able
to rationalize their behaviour according to some system. Moreover, it makes the client a co-
counsellor to the counsellor and 'increases his or her level of commitment to change.

With group treatment as its modality, it is relatively economical and saves time.

4. The use of contracting seems to make the client and counselor equals and makes
the client assume , responsibility for the outcome of counselling.

5. The absence of rigid techniques gives the Transactional Analyst some measure of
flexibility and encourages innovative combinations with other view points.

6. Its use of simple colloquial, vocabulary and labels makes it easy for the lay person to
understand.
7. It is an attractive approach and it has broad appeal a; applicability.
Weaknesses

1. Its simplicity and use of popular technology, myths and metaphors open the way for
abuses and misuse of this approach.

2. Its lack of attention to specification of techniques has also been seen by some
critiques as a limitation.

3. Transactional Analysis has also been criticized for the vocabulary that it employs.
These critiques see the vocabulary as agonistic and a hindrance to self-understanding.

Application To The Nigerian Situation

Transactional Analysis is a very practicable and relevant the therapeutic framework which
can be of immense use for handling cases of every day experience in Nigeria. The
knowledge or understanding of the theory of Transactional Analysis may be necessary for all
well- meaning Nigerians working either in schools or non-school settings.

For instance

1. Many of Nigerian school-going adolescents, have a very poor concept of themselves

and others. In order to assist these adolescents, to see their life positions as "I am ok; yo u
are ok, the relationship between teachers and students’ students and students, should be
always encouraged to be on a complimentary level position.

2. Moreso, the teachers should relate rationally with students in order to encourage the
development of adult thinking or rational attitudes among them.

3. Transactional Analysis insists that individuals are responsible for their own basic life
decisions, this is applicable for example, to the Igbo adage that says "when a man concurs,
his God stands by him" (Onye kwe,chi ya ekwe).

4. Another applicability of the responsibility on the Nigerian individuals for his or her
offence is in line with our penal laws which punish an individual for his or her offence. This
encourages individuals to try and adopt or change to a productive life style. It is for this
reason that Patterson (1973) observed that people feel better when they are able to
rationalize their behaviours according to some system or theory.

5. Also this theory encourages the clients to read and understand the concepts and
labels for purposes of treatment. An understanding of its concepts will be helpful in
improving the parenting styles of Nigerian parents which use more of directive approach.
Parents should relate with their children so that the children will view life in the area of I'm
ok; you are ok.

Transactional Analysis is seen as a new way of treating emotional disorders without much
focus on unconscious mental processes. It is also a theory of life which gives the
responsibility for one's life position to the individual. Each individual personality consists of
the Parent, the Adult and the Child Ego states. Behaviour is motivated by structure hunger,
position hunger and stimulus hunger.
Maladaptive personality results from bad and unhealthy parenting characterized by
conditional Strokes and negative and or mixed valence strokes. Bad parenting is also
characterized by injunctions, discounts and absence of permission. As a result, an individual
adopts any of the three maladaptive life positions and writes his life script to confirm the
position. The individual may also develop Ego state problems.
Counselling is preceded by a clearly stated contract, and passes through stages. This
approach is not known for its clear specification of techniques, but operational techniques
are delineated. In spite of its limitations, it has some potentials for applicability in the
Nigerian situation.
References

Adelaide, B. (1975). T.A Games, New York: Harper & Row.

Adeyoju, J.A (1989). Transactional Analysis. In Uba, A (ed), Theories of Counselling and
Psychotherapy. Ibadan: Patrice Continental Press

Berne, E. (1964). Games that people play. New York: Grove Press.

Berne, E (1966). Principles of Group treatment New York: Oxford University Press.

Berne, E. (1972) What do you say after you said hello? The psychology of Human Destiny.
New York: Grove Press.

Harris, T.A (1969). I am OK; You are OK. New York: Hanper &Row.

Muriel, MJ. (1973). Born to love. T.A. In the Church. Massachussetts: Addison Wesley
Publishing Company.

Patterson, C.H (1973). Theories of Counselling and Psychotherapy. New York: Harper &
Row.

Uba, A. (1989). Theories of Counselling and psychotherapy. Ibadan: Patrice Continental

Press.