Transactional analysis (TA) is primarily a talking therapy based around specific theories of personality, how people relate to each other, and how their childhood affects them. TA combines aspects of different schools of psychotherapy while having its own distinctive style. It offers some simple, but very effective ideas and tools that clients can take away and apply to their lives.

TA can best be introduced by a quote from one of its most popular books, ‘TA Today’

‘“Transactional analysis is a theory of personality and a systematic psychotherapy for personal growth and personal change’. That’s the definition of TA suggested by the International Transactional Analysis Association.’ In fact, TA today is all this and much more. Among psychological approaches, transactional analysis is outstanding in the depth of its theory and the wide variety of its applications. As a theory of personality, TA gives us a picture of how people are structured psychologically. To do so it uses a three-part model known as the ego-state model. The same model helps us understand how people function – how they express their personality in terms of behaviour. TA also provides a theory of communication. This can be extended to give a method of analyzing systems and organizations….”

Transactional Analysis is both a theory of personality and a system for the improvement of personal and social functioning, within the humanistic tradition. Eric Berne, its founder, re-examined the basic assumptions of psychiatry, and from his radical pioneering work developed a system of analysis which can be applied to the structure of the personality, interpersonal transactions, life plans or scripts, and the “games people play”.

Structural Analysis identifies three ego states: the Parent, Adult and Child. It enables us to clarify our life experiences, thoughts and feelings, examining how we learned our beliefs and values from our parents and other parent figures, and how being in different ego states can influence our behaviour and relationships.

Analysis of Transactions examines both social and psychological forms of human communication using the ego state model to diagram the types of transactions. Transactions may be open and clear, or combined with ulterior messages. Their analysis provides a way to understand our ‘stroking’ patterns: how we exchange the level of contact and recognition that all humans need in order to thrive.

Script Analysis offers an approach to the question: “How do we get to be the people we are?” The origins are embedded in the history of our childhoods, families, culture and life experiences. A ‘life script’ develops without our being aware of it, for purposes of survival, approval and security rather than for self-realisation. By analysing our scripts, we can reconsider the decisions we made when we were too little to realise what options existed.

Analysis of Games – It was Eric Berne’s writings on ‘games’ that first drew the public’s attention to TA. People learn to play games in childhood as often the best possible response to family and life circumstances. The motivation in continuing to do so as adults is the need for stimulus, structure and as a substitute for security. Games are predictable patterns of indirect communications using ulterior transactions. They are played out of our awareness. Games Analysis identifies these patterns and their consequences.