A while ago I read, with interest, an article produced by the International Transactional Analysis Association on the topic of Transactional Analysis.  The article was fascinating and for me gave meaning to what we do and the way we live our lives.
But what is Transactional Analysis?  Transactional Analysis was introduced by Eric Berne in the early 1960s as a way of examining communication.  He made complex interpersonal transactions understandable when he deduced that the human personality was made up of three “ego states”.  Each ego state is a system of thoughts; feelings and behaviours from which we interact with one another, Parent, Adult and Child ego states and the interaction between them form the basis of Transactional Analysis theory.

So what can we understand about Transactional Analysis?  Every individual has had parents (or substitute parents) and he carries with him a set of ego states that reproduce the ego states of those parents (as he perceives them) and that these parental ego states can be activated under certain circumstances.  Everyone carries his/her parents around inside of him or her.  That every individual was once younger than they are now and that they carry within them fixed relics from earlier years.  Everyone carries a little boy or girl around inside him or her.  The word childish is never used in structural analysis since it has come to have connotations of undesirability or something to be stopped or got rid of.  I feel that in many ways the Child was the most valuable part of the personality and can contribute to the individual’s life exactly what a child can contribute to family life, pleasure and creativity.

 

The child appears to be exhibited in two forms: the adapted and the natural child.  The adapted child is the one who modifies his behaviour under the Parental influence; he behaves how his parents wanted him to behave – compliant or precocious.  The natural child is a spontaneous experience, rebellious or creative for example.

 

The adult is necessary for survival.  It processes data and computes the probabilities, which are essential for dealing effectively with the outside world.  It also experiences its own kind of setbacks and gratification.

 

All three aspects of the personality have a high survival and living value and I deduce when one or other of them disturbs the balance, analysis and reorganisation is indicated.  One should be aware that Parent, Adult and Child have equal respect and a legitimate place in a full and productive life.

 

Internal parent is an enormous collection of rules, moral dictums and how to do it instructions that parents provided us with.  These rules and instructions are recorded on a tape inside you, probably in the first five years of your life and they continue to play throughout your entire life.  The topics include everything you ever heard your parents say, favourite adages.  These tapes also provide you with the recall of “how to” information, how to deal with social encounters etc, which should have given you confidence as you stepped into the world.

 

What do I recognise from this

 

• We carry messages throughout our lives.  We carry these from childhood and they play a significant Part of the way we are as adults.  As I was an only child of older parents brought up in a “seen and not heard” environment I decided that was probably why I have so much to say myself now. I was concerned to ensure my own children had a voice, to listen and respect their views.

 

How does Transactional Analysis help me with my Listening Skills with my clients?

 

• It helps me recognise how and why a client has arrived at their present state of mind.  Is it something which they bring from their childhood? It may give explanation for the way they are currently behaving; it is a useful model to work with and to bring to the counselling session.

 

The history of the man behind the theory – Eric Berne

 

Eric Berne was born in 1910 in Canada, coming from a medical background he was encouraged by his parents to follow in his father’s steps.  He graduated as Master of Surgery from University in 1935.  In the pre war years he held varying posts in the field of psychiatry and in 1943 he joined the Army Medical Corp where he rose rapidly to the rank of Major.  Berne was a prolific writer; the most significant traces of the origins are the first five of six articles he wrote on intuition.  Twice married he had a large family and relished his off springs.  He was a nurturing more than an authoritative parent.

 

Clearly many experts over the time tested Berne’s theory; his papers were often initially rejected.  However with the publication of Transactional Analysis: An Effective Method of Group Therapy in 1957 the name of Berne’s method of diagnosis and treatment became a permanent part of physiological literature. He wrote prolifically until his death in 1970.

Margaret Fensome