Into TA: A Comprehensive Textbook on Transactional Analysis

445 Pages·2015·6.97 MB·English

by  William F. Cornell

INTO TA

INTO TA
A Comprehensive Textbook on
Transactional Analysis
Edited by
William F. Cornell,
Anne de Graaf,
Trudi Newton, and
Moniek Thunnissen
First published in 2016 by
Karnac Books Ltd
118 Finchley Road
London NW3 5HT
Copyright © 2016 by William F. Cornell, Anne de Graaf, Trudi Newton, and Moniek Thunnissen for the
edited collection, and to the individual authors for their contributions.
The rights of the contributors to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted in accordance
with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C.I.P. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978-1-78220-206-6
Typeset by V Publishing Solutions Pvt Ltd., Chennai, India
Printed in Great Britain
www.karnacbooks.com
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION vii
ABOUT THE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS xi
PART I: THEORY
CHAPTER ONE
Ego states 3
CHAPTER TWO
Strokes 39
CHAPTER THREE
Transactions 59
CHAPTER FOUR
Games 85
CHAPTER FIVE
Script 115
CHAPTER SIX
Passivity and discounting 159
CHAPTER SEVEN
Contracts 189
CHAPTER EIGHT
Groups and organisations 211
CHAPTER NINE
Ethics 237
v
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER TEN
Supervision 259
PART II: PRACTICE
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Psychotherapy 279
Articles by William Cornell, Jo Stuthridge, Mark Widdowson,
Michele Novellino & Moniek Thunnissen
CHAPTER TWELVE
Counselling and coaching 311
Articles by Patrizia Vinella, Sylvie Monin, Mich Landaiche,
Liselotte Fassbind-Kech & Jan Grant
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Management and organisational development 341
Articles by Anne de Graaf, Maarten Kouwenhoven, Anita Mountain,
C. Suriyaprakash, Mil Rosseau & Rik Rosseau
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Learning and personal development 381
Articles by Giles Barrow, Trudi Newton, Evelyne Papaux,
Karen Pratt & Jan Ruigrok
INDEX 413
OVERVIEW OF IMPORTANT WEBSITES 425
INTRODUCTION
Transactional analysis
Transactional analysis (TA) has been enjoying an increase in interest ever since its inception,
now more than sixty years ago, by the Canadian-American psychiatrist Dr. Eric Berne. It has
proven itself to be an extremely effective model used by professionals working in a variety of
contexts and fields, such as psychotherapy, coaching and counselling, management and organi-
sational development, or learning and personal development. TA combines a highly accessible
theory on the development of people and systems with a highly practical approach, centred on
the possibilities of growth and development.
The personality model used in TA is based on the three ego states: Parent, Adult, and Child.
(In order to distinguish these from actual parents, adults, or children, TA professionals write
these words with a capital letter when discussing ego states.) Communications between indi-
viduals are referred to in TA as “transactions”. From each of the three ego states, people always
and everywhere engage in transactions with others. This results in a means to evaluate the
numerous options within daily communication, as either more or less effective. The models of
ego states and transactions can also be used to better understand—and thus also to better man-
age or guide—groups, teams, and organisations.
TA works on the assumption that all human beings “write” the script of their own story
from the very beginning of their lives. Innate predisposition, all life experiences—positive and
negative, the messages that a child picks up from caregivers, all contribute to this script. The
script indicates the direction and the manner in which life develops. In everyday life, the script
often becomes visible in the games that people play. A game is a specific series of transactions
with an ulterior motive on a psychological level that is out of awareness. With the help of
TA, people can become more aware of the healthy and defensive elements in their life script.
They can then utilise and improve its strength, while changing the more restrictive parts of
the script.
Berne based TA on a humanistic principle. Important characteristics within this are con-
sciousness, free will, and self-actualisation. The humanistic movement was a response, on
the one hand, to the dominance of psychoanalysis which, at that time, saw a human being
as determined by inner drives, and on the other hand, as a correction to behaviourism,
which saw a human as a kind of machine whose behaviour is an object of study. The need
for personal development, according to humanistic psychology, is a fundamental aspect of
human nature.
vii
viii INTRODUCTION
Therefore, three resulting core statements within the philosophy of TA are:
(cid:129) I’m OK/You’re OK.
(cid:129) Everyone can think.
(cid:129) Change is possible.
The apparently simple statement, “I’m OK, you’re OK” is truly a colloquial summary of TA’s
underpinning philosophy. It combines an awareness of being in the world with others as inde-
pendent but connected human beings, with a belief in a positive aspiration to trust and respect
each other and ourselves (Sills & Hargaden, 2007). The background of the three core statements
is a belief in the core self as valuable, in the importance of self, of mutual acceptance, and of the
capacities of being human. Professionals in TA use a mutual working relationship defined by
contracts. In the advanced theory parts of this book more will be said about the depth of these
statements.
I’m OK/You’re OK is a fundamental premise within TA: every human being has value and
dignity. When a child is born, he (or she, of course, but we will use the one for simplicity) has
this basic or existential position: I’m OK/You’re OK. Experiences acquired will lead people
to behave according to one of the other three life positions: I’m Not OK/You’re OK, I’m OK/
You’re Not OK, or I’m Not OK/You’re Not OK. Most people know all four of these existential
positions and for a large part of the time find themselves in their preferred position. Positive
experiences in life can easily help people get from one of the three negative positions into the
I’m OK/You’re OK position.
Everyone, with the exception of people with serious brain damage, has the ability to think
for himself. And everyone has responsibility for the quality of his own life. Obviously, you do
not always have control over what happens to you. But you do have control when it comes to
how you then deal with what has happened. This often requires thinking, which each one of us
is capable of.
TA offers an optimistic theory and a practical methodology centred on growth and develop-
ment. Children often make “survival decisions”, based on early experiences in life. This may
be the best strategy available at the time, to survive in a sometimes hostile, neglectful, or cold
world. But they often apply the same outdated strategies in adulthood, which may then lead to
problems. Within TA, we work on the premise that people have the choice to change their script
at any time in their life, in order to give a positive twist to their existence. This applies to people
who, because of complaints or problems, have sought help from a psychologist or psychiatrist,
but also to people who have a happy and fulfilling life and wish to develop further. After all,
you do not need to be sick to want to get better!
The goal of Into TA is to help both beginners and more experienced readers to further open
the treasure trove of TA. Those who are just starting their journey into TA will find all the basic
models neatly presented in a sequence. In this way, knowledge and experience of TA can be
traced and developed from its foundations onward to more depth and complexity. For those
who have previously spent time in this room of treasures, this book offers the opportunity to
deepen the knowledge and experience they have already acquired. We have also chosen to
highlight the relationship with related theories, so that the development of TA can be under-
stood within the broader perspective of the theory and practice of social-psychological care.
INTRODUCTION ix
We have written this book with the thousands of students, at the various TA training centres
all over the world, in mind. In addition, we have also had in mind the many professionals
who make use of TA concepts in their work and who may require a book that can serve as a
reference guide as well as a source to further deepen their knowledge. In essence, we have
written this book for all professionals who, like us, are convinced that the quality of the relation-
ship between the professional and her (or his) client is the main ingredient in the necessary or
desired growth and development.
After all, people acquire—often in the first years of their life—“the scratches on their soul”
in their relationships with other people. So it is precisely the relationships with other people—
often later in life—that hold the key to the process of healing, of becoming whole.
Within TA, we repeatedly deal with reacquiring or increasing autonomy. Autonomy is a
quality that becomes apparent in the deployment of three capacities: awareness, spontane-
ity, and intimacy. Autonomy involves feelings, thoughts, and behaviour which are respon-
sive to the here and now, instead of to convictions from the there and then (which are fed by
“script”).
Structure of the book
The book consists of two parts. Part I: Theory and Part II: Practice.
Part I comprises ten chapters in which the theory of TA is presented. Each chapter has the
following structure:
Basic theory: a general overview of the basic concepts of TA. This is generally consistent
with the content of the TA 101, an introductory two-day TA training course, which has the same
content internationally.
Further theory: the background of concepts is addressed and various theories are compared
and positioned in relation to one another. This theory is dealt with during ongoing TA courses.
Furthermore: specific aspects of the theory are further highlighted for those who can’t get
enough.
Related theories: TA concepts are discussed in relation to other theories from psychot herapy,
organisational development, and education.
In Part II, a number of TA professionals from all over the globe discuss the application of TA
within their specific area of work. Chapters Eleven through Fourteen deal successively with the
fields of psychotherapy, coaching and counselling, management and organisational develop-
ment, and education and personal development.
At the back of the book there is an overview of some websites. These are sites of the ITAA
(International Transactional Analysis Association) and of the PSD and IBOC (Professional
Standards Division and the International Board of Certification).
The ITAA website offers the opportunity to find regional TA associations such as EATA
(European Association for Transactional Analysis), ALAT (Asociación Latinoamericana de
Análisis Transaccional), USATAA (United States of America Transactional Analysis Association),
SAATA (South Asian Association of Transactional Analysts), and more. The website of EATA
enables visitors to find national TA associations in Europe.
Lastly, at the back of the book we have included a web link to a list of articles that have been
awarded an Eric Berne Memorial Award (EBMA).