Introduction to Transactional Analysis (Part 1/3)
- Debbie Tan
- Jul 22
- 3 min read
Background
TA was founded by Eric Berne in the late 1950s, stemming from Sigmund Freud's theory that childhood experiences greatly impact our lives as adults, and is the basis for the development on our personalities, neurosis or any emotional issues that we may suffer. Berne terms this dysfunctional behaviour as our "life script"- the pre- conscious life plan governing how one's life is lived out. In short, TA aims to change your "life script"- with the focus on how one relates to people at work and home, and how social interaction plays an important role in creating one's sense of self.
Core principles
The Functional Model of Ego States
The 3 ego states:
Our interactions with the outside world often stems from a default or unconscious reaction from the child and parent state, and it takes a conscious awareness to bring one back into the here and now, the adult state.
Ego states | Description | Role | Characteristics |
Parent (Nurturing, Controlling) | Behaviours, thoughts copied by our parental figures. It plays a primary role in influencing behaviour. | Influencing behaviour | The nurturing parent encourages, provides guidance and is supportive. In contrast, the critical parent is judgemental, controlling and rule orientated. Both aspects may also be expressed in both positive and negative ways. |
Adult | Current and direct responses. It plays a primary role in dictating rational responses. | Dictating rational responses | Rational thought process without interference of unconscious thoughts, nor external influences from our Parent and Child ego states |
Child (Adapted, Free) | Behaviours, thoughts, reinforcements (positive/ negative) replayed from our childhood. It plays a primary role in influencing emotional responses. | Influencing emotional responses | The free child represents the uninhibited self. It is spontaneous, and is able to express emotions freely. In contrast, the adapted child has learnt to conformto demands and expectations of others, especially parental figures. This can result in over- compliance or rebellion. |
Functional Fluency
Life Positions
Life positions are the basic beliefs we hold about ourselves, our justiication for our behvaiours and decisions. Our life positions are formed from our early experiences (up to roughly 7 years of age), and it is easy to get stuck and have them take over control in our lives. It is believed we all enter this world being "Okay", good and worthy.
"I am okay, you are okay" | This is the healthiest position. Communication is verbal and conscious. |
"I am not okay, you are okay" | One individual is disadvantaged and feels helpless. This tneds to occur when one focuses on their faults and is constantly in a self- discounting mode. |
"I am okay, you are not okay" | One individual is at an advantage, and will tend to be domineering and critical of others. |
"I am not okay, you are not okay" | This is a hopless situation,and effective communication will be challenging. |
"The indications are stronger than ever that the natural classification wil be based on the patient's position, and that this position is the fundemental variable of human living"
~Eric Berne, "Classification of positions"
The OK Corral
We function and behave on the ego state being triggered. It ends up being the role we play with others, and our 'life script' takes over, and resulting in toxic cyclical pattern. In the next part, we will look at the Applicationf of Transactional Analaysis, how we break the barriers of your past, achieve congruence with yourself and improve the relationships with the people around you.
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