TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

Transactional Analysis is a theory of personality development and a means of understanding human behaviour. It is also a therapeutic activity that provides us with a means of bringing about change, overcoming distress and developing the capacity for intimacy, spontaneity and awareness.
The origins of T.A. are in developments in humanistic psychology during the 1960's in America.
Eric Berne, it's founder, was originally psycho-analytically trained and recognised the incapacitating effects that the past could have on an individual's present functioning.
Berne's approach differed from psycho-analysis in it's emphasis upon the self-determination of the patient or client. His view was that we are not determined by our past but rather that, in order to get along with the significant people in our young lives, we make decisions, albeit with limited options and immature thinking.
The starting point for therapy is Script Work. Here the therapist and client identify early decisions and agree upon a contract for changing those decisions that are unhelpful in adult life. Unlike many therapies, T.A. places as much emphasis on thinking and understanding as it does on the recognition and appropriate expression of feelings. In keeping with the principle of self-determination, the client is taught the theory and is expected to be an active participant in the process of change.
Formal therapy usually takes place in an open group led by the therapist. An open group is one where members come and go rather than remain together for a fixed period. Unhelpful adaptations become apparent in the process of the group and are picked up by other members or the therapist.
As all share the theory it is possible to:
1.Analyse Transactions - this refers to the interaction between the parts of the personality labelled Parent, Adult and Child.
2. Analyse Games - a game is a pattern of interaction which happens over and over again out of awareness, and ending in a particular bad feeling, reinforcing a decision made in early childhood.
3. Identify and Redecide Script Decisions - here early decisions are uncovered and the individual is invited to find new and constructive ways of meeting needs.
The group provides a safe environment where members are confronted in a caring way and provided with protection and support to make changes towards greater "O.K.ness". It also provides an environment in which to experiment with new ways of being and relating.
Therapists using T.A. will draw upon a range of other approaches including psycho-drama, gestalt, and bio-energetics. Qualification in T.A. is gained over a lengthy period of training (5-4 years) consisting of supervised clinical work, specialised training in group dynamics, psychopathology and child development, and placement in a psychiatric setting. T.A. therapists are required to undertake their own personal therapy throughout training.

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Information supplied by The Brighton Natural Health Centre

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