“The destiny of every human being is decided by what goes on inside his skull when confronted by what goes on outside his skull”
Eric Berne
What Is TA ?
Transactional Analysis (TA) is a comprehensive and valued psychological approach, founded and developed by Eric Berne. It is a modality that is “proudly psychodynamic” yet “fiercely humanistic”. Transactional Analysis is used extensively as a form of psychotherapy to accelerate an internal change in people.
TA is based on 3 principles:
- Our ego states activates during transactions, leading to distress or negative outcomes.
- We all have three ‘ego states’ (Parent, Adult, and Child)
- We all have transactions (with self or others)
3 Philosophy of TA
- All people are born OK
- All Individuals with emotional problems are fully functioning and have capacity to think
- All the emotional difficulties are curable
The goal of transactional analysis is help the individual in therapy gain and maintain autonomy by strengthening the Adult state. Typically, the individual and the therapist will establish a contract that outlines the desired outcome they wish to achieve in therapy. This may contribute to the person in therapy taking personal responsibility for events that take place during treatment.
How does it work?
- Self-reliance – capable of taking their own decisions in life
- Identifying areas of improvement in communication with self and others
- Knowing where to modify behaviours
- Understand messages that influenced behaviour, remove limiting beliefs
- Develop a better understanding of people
- Raise self-awareness towards situations, respond before reacting
- Develop the capacity to view situations from Adult state
- Work upon own Life Script, make the changes to achieve goals
Who Can Benefit From Transactional Analysis Therapy?
Transactional analysis is frequently applied in the areas of medicine, communications, education, media, art and business management as well as therapy. Transactional analysis is considered to be one effective method of enhancing relationships with oneself and with others. It can be particularly useful for solving conflicts between couples and family members.
Research show that transactional analysis can be an effective tool in the treatment of emotional and relationship difficulties that may develop as a result of chronic health challenges.
Goals and Benefits of TA
- It can increase self-awareness.
- It promotes personal reflection.
- It helps people find more effective ways to communicate.
- It can help eliminate unhelpful thoughts, feelings, and actions.
- It can help people take responsibility for their thoughts and actions.
- It can be applied to many types of problems.
The language of Transactional analysis
If our brains were simple enough for us to understand them, we’d be so simple that we couldn’t.
Ian Stewart
What To Expect At Your Visit
Perhaps you’re down or anxious, not confident, feeling unsure or how to plan the next major step of your life or just feel that you aren’t living the life you were meant to lead. Whatever your needs may be, I am here to offer professional guidance, confidential self-discovery, true autonomy, positive outlook and empathetic support without any judgement.
Your initial appointment will likely be more rewarding if you do a little homework ahead of time. Doing so will not only help you clarify why you are seeking professional help but will also help the therapist.
Before your appointment, make a list of:
- Any issues, concerns, or symptoms you are coping with, even if they seem to be unrelated or are not the reason why you are seeking therapy
- Key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes
- All medications, vitamins or other supplements that you’re taking, including doses
- Questions to ask your Therapist