Transactional Analysis: What is it, How it works and Why you should try it?

When I first heard the words transactional analysis, I was a first-year psychology student, and my impression was: those words - transactional analysis- sounded strange, unconvincing to me and aroused absolute skepticism that something that makes sense could be called that. Ok, not quite absolute, but 99%. That 1% chance that transactional analysis might be something ok and that I might be able to give it a chance and get to know what it is, I gave it because I heard "it's a psychotherapy theory and method", and until then I didn't learn anything about it at university. Turns out that 1% chance didn't fool me.

1. What is Transactional Analysis?

Transactional analysis (TA) was created when psychoanalyst Eric Berne wanted to make an introductory psychological analysis for those who wanted to go to psychoanalytic therapy. However, it did not end there. Transactional analysis has become an independent theory of personality, communication, and psychotherapy .

What is transactional analysis called?

Perceiving the environment, the experience that is formed in relation to the behavior of others and communication with them is a transaction . Or simplified: stimulus and response to stimulus . By analyzing the way someone interprets and adopts messages from the environment and how he communicates, important data on psychological functioning can be obtained. For example if someone is scowling a lot of the time and tends to criticize others, then TA makes several hypotheses about which psychological mechanisms are active in the person.

One of the basic assumptions is that for the formation of personality, human characteristics, what he likes, what he doesn't like, typical behaviors, the contact and communication of a person with the environment in which he lives is of crucial importance. This idea deviates from the classic psychoanalytic paradigm that man is governed by instincts and existed before TA in post-Freudian psychoanalysis, which emphasizes the importance of culture in the formation and shaping of man's desires, personality and psychological problems.

2. How does TA work?

The terms contained in TA make it easier to describe the psychological state in an adequate and precise way. Some of those terms are: frame of reference, ego-states, script, prohibitions, permissions, drivers, write-off, grandiosity, existential positions, psychological games, racket of feelings, stagnation, new decision, autonomy,…

One of the recognizable marks that can be seen, for example, on the covers of books related to TA are three circles and they represent 3 basic parts of the personality, the so-called. ego states : ego state Child, ego state Adult, ego state Parent. Does this remind you of something historically already set up before? Of course, it reminds and is inspired by the psychoanalytic setting: Id, Ego, Superego. However, when these "equivalent parts" are compared, theoretical and practical differences are observed.

Ego states are internal structures whose content is acquired during life. When one of the ego-states is inactive or when the content of the ego-state is irrational, then some psychological problem is manifested.

Ego states can be manifested in behavior, and when behavior is analyzed, it represents a functional analysis of the ego state, and then the terms free and adapted child, criticizing and nurturing parent, adult are used.

Another very well-known concept is psychological games . Bern's book "Games people play" was published in the USA in 1964 and at one time caused a positive reaction from the readership. Due to its content and use of language that is understandable to most, the book is absolutely relevant even today. When a person repeats similar situations in his life, after which he has an often unpleasant emotional state , then there are suspicions that a psychological game has been played.

In terms of theory and psychotherapy practice, TA has common elements with cognitive-behavioral therapy, on the other hand, it contains concepts of a psychodynamic approach. Considering development from birth, taking into analysis a large number of factors and wide possibilities in making psychotherapy plans makes TA a detailed and systematic theory.

3. Why TA?

TA belongs to humanities. With its philosophical assumptions, it defines man as a being who has basically good wishes, and it is the way that can be wrong or pathological. Therefore, it is considered important to distinguish between man as a person and his behavior . Another important idea is that people have the ability to make decisions for themselves , that their personality and behavior are not a simple result of the influence of external circumstances, but that they have the ability to think and position themselves proactively in relation to what they want.

A person in the present has the opportunity to position himself responsibly and protectively towards the part of his personality that has unsatisfied desires or is suffering. A person's ability to think and make conclusions and attitudes in the present, the ability to behave in a new way that is more in line with him, are important potentials for a person to soothe the suffering he feels and resolve the psychological problem he has.

What are the positive sides of transactional analysis:

• A large number of concepts that can be used to explain why a person behaves in a certain way

• Explanations exist at the level of intrapsychic dynamics: which psychological structures are active and in what way, resulting in certain thinking, feeling and behavior

• Explanations exist at the communication level

• It offers guidelines on how to overcome unpleasant experiences: thoughts, emotions, behaviors

• A person's previous experiences are not decisive for a person's present and future

• The focus is on the person's current capacities

• It helps to notice old patterns, understand the reason for their earlier existence and form new decisions

What are the negative sides of transactional analysis:

The negative sides are not related to the content of the Transactional Analysis. TA is a relatively popular theory, when you go to one of the bookstores where popular psychology is sold, it is very likely that you will find one of the books based on this modality. And that is certainly a good way for TA to reach a larger number of readers. However, the popularity seems to bring a debatable phenomenon - individuals who are insufficiently educated in this area and have no experience in psychotherapy can be observed, so referring to the concepts of this theory they offer quick, simplified analyzes and answers, under the pretext of knowing TA. This is what can damage the opinion of the observer and the listener about TA, if they do not have knowledge about it.

Conclusion:

It was 2006 when I was a first-year psychology student, and from then until now, I've gone through various phases: periods of skepticism, education and reading literature, preparation for counseling work, actual work, and then again – skepticism regarding previous knowledge and a renewed search for answers. In this search for answers, my impression is that TA (Transactional Analysis) has irreversibly influenced me in a positive way, helping me to better understand myself, teaching me how to calm down when upset, to better interpret others' behaviors, and to understand the world around me. And I hope, also, to the people I work with in psychotherapy.

Author: Bojana Škorić