TA101

Introduction to TA

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a psychodynamic approach to understanding:

• How people communicate
• How people grow up
• How people see the world

TA is applied in a number of fields including both clinical and developmental contexts. The developmental applications are typically education and organisational. The clinical fields are psychotherapy and counselling.

The Three Principles of TA

• People are essentially OK
  By this we mean that individuals are of intrinsic value and have a right to exist.
• Everyone can think
  People can take in information, consider options and make decisions.
• Anyone can change
  In other words, we all have the capacity to grow and learn.

Windows on the World

These three basic principles can be understood through a simple model which was originally called the OK Corral. More recently it has been referred to as Windows on the World, (Hay) and this is possibly a better way of introducing the idea to young people.

Berne referred to each of the quadrants as a life position, a way in which an individual experiences themselves in relation to other people and to life itself. When the individual is ‘looking out’ at the world through a particular ‘window’ it has implications in terms of the person’s inclination toward others, ie. to get away from, to get rid of etc, but also the quality of the relationships they co-create with others. So for example, I am not OK/You are OK dynamic is typically seen where one person does the thinking and acting for the other in the ‘one-down’ position.

A great way of encouraging discussion amongst young people about the windows on the world is through watching Bounding. In addition to tracking the movement around the different windows, this clip is also relevant for introducing strokes and exploring script.

The History of TA

Eric Berne

Born 10th May 1910, as Eric Lennard Bernstein, in Montreal. Berne's father was a doctor who divided his time between private practice and a free clinic he founded in the Jewish quarter of the city. Eric's mother, Sarah, was a professional writer, and he also had one sister. Eric's father died in 1920 at the age of 38.

Eric went into medicine and graduated from McGill University. In 1935 he moved to the the USA and in 1936 began his residency in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. In 1941 he began his psychoanalytic training at New York Psychoanalytic Institute. His analyst was Paul Federn an ego analyst. He also became a citizen of the US and changed his name to Berne.

In 1943 Eric was drafted to the US Army and following his discharge in 1946 resumed training in analysis at San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, with Eric Erikson as his analyst. In 1956 his application for membership of the Institute was turned down, and Eric gave up his aim of becoming a psychoanalyst and settled for being a misunderstood genius instead. This was blown by the huge success of Games People Play in 1966.

Eric married three times and had two children. He died on 15th July, 1970.

Development of Ideas

Eric saw himself as a social psychiatrist and combined individual and social psychiatry into a unified system, one of the analysis of relationships rather than of instincts as a means of understanding the human condition. He wanted:

1. To develop a method of therapy that people of average means could afford
2. To enlist the behavioural science disciplines in developing training programmes that would produce more mental health workers
3. To develop a readily understandable language in which social problems could be discussed

During his time in the army, Eric began to practice group therapy and completed the critical notes on psychiatry and psychoanalysis which were to form the basis for his later writings. Some of the his crucial ideas, on the nature of intuition, were developed following his experiences in 1945 when he had to give psychiatric examination to 25, 000 soldiers in 40-50 seconds per recruit. He asked 'Are you nervous' and 'Have you ever been to see a psychiatrist?'

In 1956 he developed his concepts of Parent, Adult and Child, which were presented in a paper entitled Transactional Analysis; a new and effective method of group therapy. The word 'effective' gives the key to a major value for Eric; his ideal was to cure people, cure them quickly, and be oriented towards cure via a planned treatment strategy.

From the mid-1950s Berne developed his ideas in conjunction with a group of like-minded colleagues, at seminars held weekly at his home. He continued this practice until his death, and many major ideas were hammered out at these meetings called the San Francisco Social Psychiatry Seminars.

Today the TA community spans most continents and comprises regional associations in the Americas, near and far east asia, Australasia and Europe. Although originating in the US the larger gathering of TA practitioners is here in Europe. There are annual regional national and international conference, training events and examinations.

Qualifying in TA beyond the introductory certificate involves further training, supervision and application of TA. Training takes place all over Europe including most areas of the UK and is delivered by internationally recognised Training and Supervising Transactional Analysts (TSTAs). Practitioners decide on a field of application in which to qualify; psychotherapy, counselling, organisations or education.

Eric Berne's contribution is kept alive through the yearly presentation of the Eric Berne Memorial Award (EBMA). This is awarded to individuals who have developed TA theory or practice in an innovative way. Examples include Pam Levin with regard to the Cycle of Development and Jean Illsley Clarke for her work in parent education.

The International Association for TA is responsible for the Transactional Analysis Journal, a peer reviewed academic quarterly journal which presents the most current thinking in TA theory and practice.