Transactional Analysis

Erick Berne’s transactional analysis, T.A., incorporates elements of psychoanalysis, Gestalt psychology, rational emotive therapy, psychodrama, and behavioral therapy. T.A. has been described as a “rational approach to understanding behavior” based on the assumption that all individuals can learn to trust themselves, think for themselves, make their own decisions, and express their own feelings. Considered as part of humanistic therapy because of its positive view of human nature and its focus on behavioral therapy, T.A. is often used in group therapy. Ego states, life position, and life scripts are key elements of the personality theory. All three are affected by early environmental conditions, especially the childrearing practices of the parents.

The Three Ego States

The Ego state consists of the adult, the parent, and the child, and positive parenting leads to a balance of the three ego-states. All children begin life with a healthy, “I’m Ok-You’re Ok” life position and the childrearing practices determine whether a healthy position is maintained or adopted by an unhealthy position. Three unhealthy life positions are adopted: “I’m Ok-You’re not Ok”, “I’m not Ok-You’re Ok”, and “I’m not Ok, You’re not Ok”.

Life Script is a person’s life’s plan, which is developed in plans made during early childhood and forms the core of the person’s identity and destiny, and indicates a person’s worth and place in life.

Goals

The goals of T.A. and the role of the therapist is to help the client understand the role of early childhood experiences and decisions on personality and behavior, and to help the client understand and accept that they are not entirely bound to the past and decisions made early in life are reversible. The primary goal of T.A. is to help clients make new decisions about their lives that reflect integration of the three ego states, an “I’m OK-You”re OK,” and flexible, autonomous (“scriptless”) behavior.