TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS:Eric Berne, The child ego state, Transactional Analysis

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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632

LESSON 34

TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

Transactional Analysis (TA), another major cognitive theory was formulated by Eric Berne in the early

1960s. The theory rose to prominence after the publication of two best-selling books:

o Berne's Games People Play (1964).

o Thomas Harris's I'm OK You're OK (1947).

Eric Berne

Eric Berne was born in 1910 in Montreal, Canada, where his father was a doctor and his mother was a

writer and an editor. Berne was five years older than his only sibling, a sister. He was close to his father,

who died at the age of 38 when Eric was 9 years old. Berne followed in his father's footsteps, earning a

medical degree from McGill University in 1935. He then completed a psychiatric residency at Yale, set

up a private practice in Connecticut and New York, became a U.S. citizen, and married. During World

War II, he served as an army psychiatrist in Utah, where he started practicing group therapy.

After the war, Berne settled in Camel, California, where he separated from his wife and completed his

first book, The Mind in Action (1947), a critical survey of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. In California, he

resumed the psychoanalytic training he had started before the war. Part of that training was his analysis

which was supervised by Eric Erickson.

In 1956, Berne was turned down for membership in the psychoanalytic Institute. This rejection proved

to be a turning point in his life. He reacted by disassociating himself from psychoanalysis and devoting

his time to the development of the transactional analysis which has a psychoanalytic favor.

Formulation of TA (Dusay, 1977)

Dusay (1977) describes the formulation of TA in four phases:

In the first phase (1955-1962), Berne developed the concept of ego states. His ideas were

influenced by his clients' descriptions of behaving as a child, a parent, and an adult (the three ego

status).

In the second phase (1962-1966) he concentrated on ideas about transactions and games. Berne

published the popular Games People Play.

In the third phase (1966-1970), he emphasized the reasons some individuals choose to play certain

games in life.

In the fourth phase (from 1970 onward), he and his followers emphasized action and energy

distribution.

View of Human Nature

Transactional Analysis is an optimistic theory. Its basic assumption is that people can change despite any

unfortunate events of the past. TA is also anti-deterministic, believing that people have choices in their

lives: that what was decided can be redecided at a later date.

TA focuses on four major methods of understanding and predicting human behavior:

Structured analysis: Understanding what is happening within the individual.

Transactional analysis: describing what happens between two or more people.

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Game analysis: understanding transactions between individuals that lead to bad feelings.

Script analysis: understanding the life plan that an individual is following:

Structured analysis:

Ego States: An ego state is a consistent pattern of feeling and experience directly related to a corresponding

consistent pattern of behavior. Each person is considered to have three functional ego states: child, parent,

and adult.

The child ego state:

The child ego state is the first to develop. It is that part of the personality characterized by childlike

behaviors and feelings. The child ego state consists of two subdivisions:

The natural (free) child is the part of the person that is spontaneous, impulsive, feeling oriented and

often self-centered and pleasure loving.

The adaptive child is the compliant part of the personality that confirms to the wishes and demands of

parental figures.

The parent ego state:

The parent ego state incorporates the attitudes and behaviors (the don'ts, shoulds, and oughts) of parental

figures. Outwardly, these messages are delivered through prejudice, criticism, and nurturing behavior. This

ego state consists of two subdivisions:

The nurturing parent is the part of the person that comforts, praises, and aids others.

The critical parent: is that part of the person that finds fault, displays prejudices, disapproves, and

prevents others from feelings good about themselves.

The adult ego state:

The adult ego state is not subdivided or related to a person's age. It is the objective, thinking, data-gathering

part of the person. The adult ego state tests reality, much as the ego does in Freud's system.

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Transactional Analysis:

Egogram

One way of assessing the ego state(s) a person most employs is through the use of egogram. An egogram

will remain "fixed" unless individual decides to invest energy in using another ego state.

Transactions may occur on one of three levels:

Complementary transaction

In a complementary transaction, both persons are operating either from the same ego state (for

example, child to child; adult to adult) or from complementary ego states (parent to child; adult to

parent). Responses are predictable and appropriate.

Examples:

An adult to adult transaction might look like this:

Person 1: What time is it?

Person II: It is 7 o'clock

A child to-child transaction would involve more playfulness:

Person I: let's go play with Shoib

Person II: Yes, We could have lots of fun with him!

A parent to parent transaction, however, would be more nurturing or critical

Person I: You never do anything right

Person II: that's because you're always finding fault with my work

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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632

Crossed Transactions

In crossed transactions, an inappropriate ego state is activated, producing an unexpected response.

Crossed Transactions hurt.

An ulterior transaction

An ulterior transaction is one in which two ego states operate simultaneously and one message

disguises the other.

Person I: can you help me' carry these bags? They must weigh.

Person II: Those bags weigh approximately twenty pounds, and you are capable of carrying them.

Game Analysis

Games are ulteriorly motivated transactions that appear complementary on the surface but end in

bad feelings. Games keep people safe from exposing their thoughts and feelings.

There are first-degree, second-degree, and third-degree games; and all have predictable ends.

First-degree games are played in social circles with anyone who is willing to participate.

A second-degree game occur when the players go after bigger stakes, usually in more

intimate circles, and end up with bad feelings.

A third-degree game usually involves tissue damage; and the players end up in jail, the

hospital, or the morgue.

Individuals playing games operate from one of 3 positions: Victim, Persecutor, & rescuer. To keep

games going there is often a switch-off where people assume new roles.

In the long run, however, game players are losers because they avoid meaningful and healthy

human interactions.

Script Analysis

Life scripts are based on interpretations of external events and determine how one interacts with others.

Permissions and injunctions refer to positive and negative messages to a child. Positive messages

(Permissions) do not limit people in any way but negative (injunctions) may become destructive scripts,

unless a person makes conscious efforts to overcome them. Many parental injunctions refers to

don'ts, shoulds, ought not, etc.

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Theory and Practice of Counseling - PSY632

Role of the Counselor

TA treatment assigns the counselor the initial role of being a teacher. He or she must explain to the

client the language and concepts of TA, a new way of thinking about self.

After this is accomplished, the counselor contracts with the client for specific changes and helps

the person achieve them.

Diagnosis based on DSM-IV categories is not stressed.

Goals

Primary goals of TA focus on helping clients transform themselves from "frogs" into "princes and

princesses".

It is not enough that persons learn to adjust, as in psychoanalysis. Instead, the emphasis is on

attaining health and autonomy.

Counselors help their clients identify and restore distorted or damaged ego states.

A major emphasis of TA is on learning about the self in order to decide who one wishes to

become.

Techniques

Treatment contract: a specific, concrete contract that emphasizes agreed upon responsibilities for both

counselors and clients.

Interrogation: speaking to a client's adult state until the counselor receives an adult response.

Explanation: occurs on an adult-to-adult ego state level. The counselor teaches the client about some

aspects of TA.

Illustration: Enlightens the client or elaborates a point.

Confirmation: Used when previously modified behavior occurs again and the counselor points this

out to the client.

Interpretation: involves the counselor's explanation to the child ego state of the client the reasons for

the client's behavior.

Crystallization: Consists of an adult-to-adult transaction in which the client comes to an awareness

that individual game playing may be given up if so desired.

Confrontation: involves the counselor's pointing out inconsistencies in the client's behavior or

speech.

Almost all the techniques in TA involve some combination of questioning confrontation and

dialogue. The following are among the questions most frequently asked by TA counselors.

What are the nicest and worst things your parents ever said to you?

What is your earliest memory?

What is the family story about your birth?

What is your favorite fairy tale, story, or songs?

How would you describe your mother and father?

How long do you expect to live?

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Evaluation: Strengths

The approach uses terms that are easily understood and clearly defined.

The approach is easily and collectively combined with other more action-oriented approaches.

The approach puts the responsibility of change on the client.

The approach is goal-directed.

Weaknesses

The approach has been criticized for its primary cognitive orientation.

The approach is criticized for its simplicity, structure, and popularity.

The research behind the approach is relatively weak.

The approach has not developed much since Berne's death in 1970.

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