What is Transactional Analysis?

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a theory of personality and a systematic psychotherapy for personal growth and personal development. TA is used effectively in many areas, by helping us to understand why we do what we do, and why we feel the way we feel.

TA shows us how to communicate, effectively from the healthy position of I'm OK, You're OK.

TA was developed by Dr. Eric Berne, a Psychiatrist in the USA during the early 1950's. Since then it has grown in popularity and is now being used world wide in clinical work with families, couples and individuals. TA is also being used in organisational development, education, religion and a variety of other areas.

The Philosophical assumptions of TA are:

-  All people are OK as human beings, even though their behaviour may be unacceptable

-  People have an urge to grow and develop themselves, even though they may have learned to repress this

-  We make decisions and are therefore responsible for our behaviour. We can influence others and invite certain
   responses but they decide how to react (although it is unfair to condemn them for this if they have not been
   exposed to TA philosophy!)

Briefly, each of us has three parts, or three ego states, Parent, Adult, and Child. Each of these ego states function in different ways. When we were growing up, our parents gave us messages and directions from their ego states to ours. From these messages, we made decisions on how our life will be and what we should not do. Often, the decisions made at age 6 are not appropriate at age 36 yet we still hang on to them. Understanding TA will show you how change those early decisions to suit your life now.

From birth we all have a need for positive recognition. We need to be loved, touched, and complimented. In TA this is called Stokes. We need to learn how to give and receive strokes in order to be healthy and maintain loving relationships.

Our natural birthright is to be spontaneous, aware and autonomous. Through TA we can throw off our mind bindings, see who's living in our head and regain these powers.

Transactional analysis is also being used in organisational development, education, religion and a variety of other areas. Newer applications of it continue to be found.

A couple of well known books on Transactional Analysis are: 'I'm OK, You're OK' and 'Games People Play'.