Transactional Analysis

Chapter 11
Transactional Analysis
 Formulated by Eric Berne in the early
1960’s.
 Some clinicians classify as an almost
purely cognitive theory with a linkage to
psychoanalysis.
Eric Berne
 Born in 1910 in Montreal,Canada.
 During WWII, he served as an Army
psychiatrist in Utah, where he started
practicing group therapy.
 Moved to California after the war and
resumed the psychoanalytic training he had
started before the war.
 After being turned down for membership in
the Psychoanalytic Institute he devoted his
time to the development of transactional
analysis.
Phases of TA Formulation
(Dusay, 1977)
 1st Phase (1955-1962)
 Berne developed the concept of ego states.
 Three ego states: parent, child, adult.
 2nd Phase (1962-1966)
 Concentrated on ideas about transactions and games.
 International Transactional Analysis Association formed.
 3rd Phase (1966-1970)
 Emphasized the reasons some individuals choose to play
games in life.
 4th Phase (1970 on)
 He and his followers emphasized action and energy
distribution.
View of Human Nature/Personality
 An optimistic theory.
 Basic assumption is that people can change

despite any unfortunate events of the past.
 Anti-deterministic - believing that people

have choices in their lives.
Major Methods of Understanding
and Predicting Human Behavior
 Structural Analysis – understanding what is
happening and predicting human behavior.
 Transactional Analysis – describing what
happens between two or more people.
 Game Analysis – understanding transactions
between individuals that lead to bad feelings.
 Script Analysis – understanding the life plan
that an individual is following.
Structural Analysis
 Each person is considered to have
three functional ego states:
 Child, parent, and adult.
 Ego state – a “consistent pattern of
feeling and experience directly related
to a corresponding pattern of behavior”
(Berne, 1964).
Child Ego State
 First to develop.
 The part of the personality characterized by
childlike behaviors and feelings.
 Consists of two subdivisions:
 the natural (free) child – the part of the person
that is spontaneous, impulsive, feeling-oriented,
and often self-centered and pleasure-loving.
 the adaptive child – the compliant part of the
personality that conforms to the wishes and
demands of parental figures.
Parent Ego State
 Incorporates the attitudes and behaviors (dos,
shoulds, and oughts) of parental figures.
 Outwardly expressed through prejudice,
criticism, and nurturing behavior.
 Consists of two subdivisions:
 the nurturing parent – the part of the person that
comforts, praises, and aids others.
 the critical parent – the part of the person that
finds fault, displays prejudices, disapproves, and
prevents others from feeling good about
themselves.
Adult Ego State
 Not subdivided or related to a person’s
age.
 The objective, thinking, data-gathering
part of the person.
 The adult is rational and organized.
Focus of Transactional Analysis
 A major focus of TA is determining which ego
state(s) a person is using.
 The different ego states may operate
simultaneously.
 Although TA does not favor one ego state
over another, the theory stresses the
importance of being able to balance
responses when necessary and appropriate.
 May occur on three levels:

 Complementary Transaction
 Crossed Transaction
 Ulterior Transaction
Complementary Transaction
Both persons are operating from the

same ego state (child:child) or from
complementary ego states (parent:child
or adult:parent).
Crossed Transaction
 An inappropriate ego state is activated,
producing an unexpected response.
 Crossed transactions hurt.
 When they occur, people tend to withdraw
from each other or switch topics.
Ulterior Transaction
 One in which two ego states operate
simultaneously and one message
disguises the other.
 Appear to be complementary and
socially acceptable, even though they
are not.
Game Analysis
 Games - Ulteriorly motivated transactions that
appear complementary on the surface but
end in bad feelings.
 People play games to:
 Structure time.
 Achieve recognition.
 Make others predictable.
 Prevent intimacy.
 Because intimacy involves risks, games keep
people safe from exposing thoughts and
feelings.
Types of Games
 First-degree games
 Played in social circles with anyone willing to
participate.
 Generally lead to mild upsets.
 Second-degree games
 Occur when the players go after bigger stakes.
 Usually in more intimate circles.
 End up with bad feelings.
 Third-degree games
 Usually end up in tissue damage
 The players usually end up in jail, the hospital,
or the morgue.
Individuals and Game-Playing
 Individuals who play games operate
from one of three positions:
 Victim
 Persecutor
 Rescuer
Script Analysis
 Berne believed that everyone makes a
life script (life plan) by age 5.
 Determines how one interacts with
others.
 Based on interpretations of external
events.
Permissions and Injunctions
 Permissions
 Positive messages given to a child.
 Do not limit people in any way.
 Injunctions
 Negative messages.
 More powerful.
 May become the basis for destructive
scripts.
Strokes and Stamps
 Verbal or physical recognition for certain
behaviors.
 Negative strokes may be better than no
strokes.
 Strokes result in the collection of either good
or bad feelings, known as stamps.
 When enough stamps are collected they cash
them in on behaviors.
 Healthy people give and receive positive
strokes most often.
Common Negative Script Patterns
 Never scripts – a person never gets to do what he or
she wants because the parent forbids it.
 Until scripts – a person must wait until a certain time
to do something before he or she can have a reward.
 Always scripts – a person tells himself that it is
necessary to continue doing the same thing.
 After scripts – a person expects difficulty after a
certain event.
 Open-ended scripts – a person does not know what
he is supposed to do after a given time.
Drivers
 Miniscripts within people’s lives that
focus on minute-by-minute occurrences.
 Common miniscripts:
“be perfect” “be strong”
“hurry up” “try hard”
“please someone”
Roles of the Counselor
 Must act as a teacher and explain to the
client the language and concepts of TA.
 Contracts with the client for specific changes
and helps the person achieve them.
 Does not rely heavily on formal psychological
tests, although a counselor does assess
client functioning.
 Assessment is done to determine how a client
is spending time and from which ego states
the client is operating.
Goals
 Identify and restore distorted and
damaged ego states.
 Develop the capacity to use all ego
states.
 Use the adult ego state with its
reasoning powers.
 Alter inappropriate life scripts.
 Adopt a position of “I’m OK, You’re OK.”
TA Techniques
 Treatment contract
 Interrogation
 Specification
 Confrontation
 Illustration
 Confirmation
 Interpretation
 Crystallization
Almost all techniques in TA involve some combination

of questioning, confrontation, and dialogue.
Multicultural and Gender
Sensitive Issues
 TA has an appeal in many cultures,
especially with diverse populations.
 TA also seems to be an appropriate theory in
working on gender sensitive issues.
 TA emphasis on empowerment and contracts
strengthens the position of women in TA
therapy.
Strengths and Contributions
 Uses terms that are easily understood and clearly
defined.
 Can be used in a number of diverse settings.
 Easily and effectively combined with other more
action-oriented counseling.
 Puts the responsibility of change on the clients.
 Goal-directed.
 Has a worldwide association that sponsors
certifications, conferences, and publications related
to the theory.
Limitations and Criticisms
 Limited in its effectiveness when used alone.
 Criticized for its simplicity, structure, and
popularity.
 Does not emphasize the authenticity of the
counselor.
 The research behind the approach is
relatively weak.
 The approach has not developed much since
Berne’s death in 1970.
The Case of Linda:
 How would you conceptualize this case using
transactional analysis?
 What would be your treatment plan for this

client using transactional analysis?

Transactional Analysis

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Chapter 11

 Basic assumption is that people can change

 Anti-deterministic - believing that people

 May occur on three levels:

Both persons are operating from the

Almost all techniques in TA involve some combination

 What would be your treatment plan for this

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