Transactional Analysis

SHABNAM NAZIA(5506) SADIA ILYAS(5510)

Eric Berne(1910-1970)

Eric Berne was born May 10, 1910 in Canada. He received an M.D. and C.M. (Master of Surgery) from McGill University Medical School in 1935. He completed psychoanalytic training at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute.

He wrote article, titled "Transactional the 1957 . Eric died on July 15, 1970.

Analysis: A New and Effective Method of Group Therapy," presented by invitation at

Books of Eric Berne

The Mind in Action (1947); A Layman's Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis (1957); Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy (1961); Structure and Dynamics of Organizations and Groups (1963); Games People Play (1964); Principles Group Treatment (1966); Sex in Human Loving (1970); and What Do You Say After You Say Hello (1971)

Transactional analysis

Transactional analysis is an interactional psychotherapy. It can be used in individual therapy but that is particularly appropriate for groups. Transactional analysis (TA) emphasizes the cognitive, rational and behavioral aspects of personality

It is oriented toward increasing awareness so that the client will be able to make new decisions and alter the course of his or her life. The unit of social intercourse is called a transaction. when two people encounter each other, one of them will speak to the other. This he called the Transaction Stimulus.

Reaction from the other person he called the Transaction Response. The person sending the Stimulus is called the Agent. The person who responds is called the Respondent.

Transactional Analysis is the method for studying interactions between individuals.

It has focused on social interactions and analysis of relationships of individuals. It was a dominant school of psychology in the 1960's and was popularized in the book I'm OK, You're OK.

Roots of transactional analysis:

In the early 20th century, Sigmund Freud first established that the human psyche is multifaceted, and that each of us has warring factions in our subconscious.
In 1951 Dr Wilder Penfield proved, that the brain could be caused to 'play back' certain past experiences, and the feelings associated with them.

Phases of development of Transactional Analysis:

The first phase (1955-1962) began with Bernes identification of the ego-states (parent, adult, and child), which provided a perspective from which to explain thinking, feeling and behaving.

Second phase

The second phase (1962-1966) focused on transactions and games. At this time transactional analysis was primarily a cognitive approach, with little attention given to emotions.

Third & fourth Phase

The third phase (1966-1970) gave attention to life scripts and script analysis. A life script is an internal plan that determines the direction of ones life. The fourth phase (1970 to the present) is characterized by the incorporation of new techniques.

View of human nature:

Transactional analysis is rooted in an antideterministic philosophy. It places faith in the persons capacity to rise above habit patterns and to select new goals and behaviors. Humans have choices and are not bound by their past.

Ego states

"a consistent pattern of feeling and experience directly related to a corresponding consistent pattern of behavior. People change from one state to another in the course of their transactions. This change can be
easily noticed by the manners, appearances, words, gestures, and tones.

The categories the ways we think, feel and behave and are called Parent, Adult, and Child. Each ego state is given a capital letter to denote. P-A-C

P-A-C model

Parent (exteropsyche)

The parent part of the personality is an interject of the parents and parental substitutes. A state in which people behave, feel, and think in response to an unconscious mimicking of how their parents (or other parental figures) acted, or how they interpreted their parent's actions.

Parent

The parent ego state contains shoulds and oughts. We each have a nurturing parent and a critical parent.

The adult ego state is the processor of data. It is the objective part of the person, which gathers information about what is going on. It is not emotional and judgmental but works with the facts and with external reality. While a person is in the Adult ego state, he/she is directed towards an objective appraisal of reality.

Adult (neopsyche)

Child (archaeopsyche)

The child ego state consists of feelings, impulses, and spontaneous acts. The child in each of us can be the natural child, the little professor or the adapted child. The natural child is the impulsive, untrained, spontaneous, expressive infant in each of us.

Child

The little professor is the unschooled wisdom of a child. It is manipulative, egocentric and creative. It is the part of the child ego state that is intuitive. The adapted child exhibits modifications of the natural childs inclinations. The modifications are the result of traumatic experiences, demands, training, and decisions about how to get attention.

Parent is our 'Taught' concept of life

Adult is our 'Thought' concept of life Child is our 'Felt' concept of life

Transactional Analysis is underpinned by the philosophy:

People can change

We all have a right to be in the world and be accepte

Types of Transactions

Complementary transactions when a message sent from a specific ego state gets the predicted response from a specific ego state of the other person.

Complementary transactions

Parent-Parent, Adult-Adult, Child-Child, Child-Parent, Parent-Child, Child-Adult,

Adult-Child, Adult-Parent, Parent-Adult

Crossed Transactions

Crossed transactions occur when an unexpected response is made to a message that a person sends out.

Duplex Transaction:

They involve more than two ego states, and a disguised message is sent.

Personality and Psychopathology According to P-A-C system There are two ways in which people differ

according to TA. This is either due to contamination or exclusion. In contamination, the P-A-C system overlaps. For example, when Parent and Adult overlap, we have a Parent contaminated Adult. This results in Prejudice. When Adult and Child overlap, we have a Child contaminated Adult. This condition causes delusion.

Exclusion

the communication from one of the P, A, or C is cut off. For example, when Child is cut off, the person cannot play at all and is very rigid and serious, causing neurotic behavior. If Adult is contaminated with Child, the person will be psychopathic.

According to this system, psychosis results when the Adult is completely blocked from Parent and Child. This is called decommissioned Adult.
If the blocking out of Adult is periodic, the result is Manic-Depressive personality.

Strokes

"fundamental unit of social action Stroke is a unit of recognition, when one person recognizes another person either verbally or none verbally. Positive strokes say I like you Negative strokes say I dont like you

Strokes

Conditional strokes say I like you if and when you are a certain way Unconditional strokes Positive stroking is essential for healthy psychological development. If strokes are authentic, then we are nourished.

Games

A game is a going series of transactions that ends with a bad feeling for at least one player. They develop for the purpose of supporting original decisions, and they are a part of persons life script. Games are a vital part of a persons interactions with others

Rackets

The unpleasant feelings that we experience after a game are called rackets. These chronic feelings that we hold on to are the ones we often experienced with our parents.

Life scripts

Life scripts in many ways resemble drama with a plot. Our life scripts include parental messages. Our script may have been formed very early in life.

Redecisions:

we can make new decisions that are appropriate and that will allow us to experience life anew. In working with clients in the redecision process, they have them go back to the early childhood scenes in which they made these decisions.

The therapeutic process:

Therapeutic goals: The basic goal is to help clients make new decisions. The essence of therapy is to substitute an autonomous life-style characterized by awareness. being self-governing, taking responsibility for ones actions and feelings. James and Jongeward (1971)

Therapists function and role

Therapist as a teacher, trainer, and resource person with heavy emphasis on involvement. (Harris,1967). The therapists real job is to allow clients to find their own power. (R.Goulding & M.Goulding, 1978).

Clients experience in therapy

The therapist and client focus only on material in the contract, so that the client knows what he or she is coming to the therapist for . clients are active agents in the therapeutic process. goals the client and therapist may design assignments for therapy sessions and for every day life.

Relationship between therapist and client

It is contract, which is based upon Adult-toAdult agreement between the therapist and the client on both the goals and the process of the therapy.Dusay and Dusay (1984) the therapist does not assume a passive spectator role, nor does the client sit back passively and wait for the therapist to perform a magical cure.

The contract approach clearly implies a joint responsibility.

Through sharing responsibility with the therapist the client becomes a colleague in his or her treatment.

Therapeutic procedures

Structural analysis: Structural analysis helps clients resolve their behavior. Structural analysis is a tool by which a person becomes aware of the content and functioning of his or her parent, adult, and child.

Empty chair

Empty chair is a procedure that works well with structural analysis. The client is asked to imagine that person in the chair before him or her and carry on a dialogue. This procedure allows the client to express many thoughts, feelings, and attitudes while assuming the roles of the ego states involved.

Role playing

TA procedures can also combined with role playing techniques.

In group therapy, role-playing situations can involve other members.

Family modeling

client is asked to imagine a scene including as many significant persons in the past as possible. The client places them in a way as he remembers the situations. The subsequent discussion, action and evaluation can heighten the awareness of a specific situation and the personal meaning it still holds for the client.

Analysis of rituals and pastimes

Ritual and pastime transaction have low stroke value, such peoples social transacting may lead to complaints such as boredom, lack of excitement and a sense of meaningless.

Script analysis

Script analysis is a part of the therapeutic process by which the life pattern that client follow is identified. When client become aware of their life script, they are in a position to do something about changing their programming.

Application

Harris (1967) the treatment of individuals in groups is the method of choice by transactional analysis. wide applications in clinical, therapeutic, organizational and personal development, encompassing communications, management, personality, relationships and behavior.

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