Transactional Analysis

Transactional analysis is a social psychology developed by Eric Berne, MD (d.1970). Over the past four decades Eric Berne's theory has evolved to include applications to psychotherapy, counselling, education, and organisational development. At its simplest level, Transactional Analysis is a method of studying interactions between individuals.

Transactions refer to the communication exchanges between people. Transactional analysts are trained to recognise which ego states people are transacting from and to follow the transactional sequences so they can intervene and improve the quality and effectiveness of communication.

Transactional Analysis supposes that the human personality is made up of three "ego states"; each of which is an entire system of thought, feeling, and behaviour from which individuals interact with each other. The Parent, Adult and Child ego states and the interaction between them form the foundation of transactional analysis theory.

Berne observed that people need strokes - interpersonal recognition - to survive and thrive. Understanding how people give and receive positive and negative strokes and changing unhealthy patterns of stroking are powerful aspects of work in transactional analysis.

Berne defined certain socially dysfunctional behavioural patterns as "games." These repetitive, devious transactions are intended to obtain strokes but instead they reinforce negative feelings and self-concepts, and mask the direct expression of thoughts and emotions. Berne tagged these games with such instantly recognisable names as "Why Don't You, Yes But", "Now I've Got You, You SOB", and "I'm Only Trying to Help You".

Berne's book Games People Play achieved wide popular success in the early 1960s.

Extracted from the European Association of Transactional Analysis Web site