Transactional Analysis (TA) is a psychological theory and method of psychotherapy developed by Eric Berne in the 1950s and 1960s. It views human behavior through the framework of ego states called the Parent, Adult, and Child. Key concepts in TA include strokes, transactions between ego states, and life positions. TA aims to help people have more flexible, aware communication through understanding ego states and game playing.

1. Transactional
Analysis (TA)
Presented by:
Renjin Babu
PGDM,
Cardinal Cleemis School of Management
Studies, Trivandrum

2. What is Transactional Analysis?
Transactional Analysis is:
An easily understandable yet sophisticated
psychological theory about people's thinking,
feelings and behavior and,
A contemporary and effective system of
psychotherapy, education, organizational and
socio-cultural analysis and social psychiatry.

3. TA and its founder
Transactional Analysis (TA) was invented
by Eric Berne, M.D. (1910-1970)
Dr. Berne was dedicated to finding a way to talk about
human behavior in a non-technical language that would
reach the common man
Discovering that people behaved from three different parts
of their personality, he replaced old psychoanalytic concepts
of id, ego, and superego with actually experienced “ego
states”
In observing communication between people he noted an
interaction of these different parts, which he identified as
"transactions." Hence the name Transactional Analysis

4. Key Ideas in Transactional Analysis

5. Ego State Model (PAC model)
An ego state is a specific way of thinking, feeling and
behaving and each ego state has its origin in specific
regions of the brain
People can behave from their Parent ego state, or
from their Child ego state or from their Adult ego
state
At any one time our actions come from one of these
three ego states

6. The Child
When we are in the Child ego state
we act like the child we once were.
We aren't just putting on an act; we
think, feel, see, hear and react as a
three or five or eight year old child.
Children can both do what they want and rebel against any
kind of authority and they can conform; adapting themselves
to the wishes of those around them. Their responses are
primarily driven by the emotions they are feeling.
When the Child is hateful or loving, impulsive, spontaneous
or playful it is called the Natural Child. When it is thoughtful,
creative or imaginative it is called the Little Professor. When
it is fearful, guilty or ashamed it is called the Adapted Child.

7. The Child
The Child has all the feelings; fear, love, anger, joy,
sadness, shame and so on
The Child is often blamed for being the source of people's troubles
because it is self-centered, emotional, powerful and resists the
suppression that comes with growing up
In transactional analysis (TA) the Child is seen as the source of creativity,
recreation and procreation; the only source of renewal in life.
E.g., at sport events or parties. The Child will appear for short periods of
time in other situations, such as board meetings, classrooms or serious
discussions where it may not be desired at all.
Confused, depressed, crazy or addicted Child will drive them to virtual
self-destruction with out-of-control behavior.
The Child may also appear for long periods of time in the form of
depression or grief, as in the case of people who have incurred a great
loss.

8. The Parent
The Parent is like a tape recorder. It is a collection of pre-recorded,
pre-judged, prejudiced codes for living.
When a person is in the Parent ego state she thinks, feels
and behaves like one of her parents or someone who took
their place.
The Parent decides, without reasoning, how to react to
situations, what is good or bad, and how people should live.
The Parent judges for or against and can be controlling or
supportive.
When the Parent is critical it is called the Critical Parent.
When it is supportive it is called the Nurturing Parent.

9. The Parent
Parents are both worldly and experienced, and
therefore speak critically of anything that does not
match their learned view of the world, or they are
caring and try to nurture and protect us.
The Parent uses old "tapes" to solve problems, and
is therefore usually twenty five years behind the
times (though it may be 250 or as much as 2,500
years behind the times.) and is useful when there is
no information available to the Adult, or no time to
use the Adult to think.

10. The Adult
When in the Adult ego state, the person
functions as a human computer. It operates on data it
collects and stores or uses to make decisions according to a
logic-based program
When in the Adult ego state, the person uses logical
thinking to solve problems making sure that Child or Parent
emotions do not contaminate the process.
In order to be rational and logical we need to be able to
separate ourselves from our emotions.
The Adult responds based on the facts based on
experience. If the facts are up-to-date, then the Adult's
answers will be timely and more effective than the Parent's
solution.

11. The Adult
Sometimes the Adult uses information which has its source
in the Child or in the Parent and which may be incorrect.
This is known as contamination.
When a contamination comes from the Parent it is called a prejudice.
For instance when someone assumes that women prefer to follow a
man's lead instead of making their own decisions this is data which
comes to the Adult the from the Parent, and is a contamination
because it is accepted as a fact without checking it against reality.
The same unchecked acceptance of information can occur with
information fed by the Child in which case it is called delusion. A
delusion is usually based on a Child fear or hope that is accepted as
reality by the Adult. For instance when a person is convinced that he is
being poisoned by the government this is probably based on his Child's
fears which the Adult accepts, rather than on fact.

14. Strokes and Transactions
The human infant is born helpless, ill equipped to attend to his/ her
survival.
Berne used the term “strokes" for units of care, as first registered by the
infant on being held and caressed.
We need both actual strokes and symbolic strokes throughout our lives,
which is why and how we are interdependent.
Whether it be the actual touch of a handshake or the symbolic “touch”
of a smile, or even of a telephone call, we continue to depend on strokes
from others for a sense of existence. In fact, this underlies all
communication among people.
As Berne put it, we “transact” with others by exchanging strokes, just the
way we might exchange goods in the market place for mutual benefit.
If you consider that each one of us operates interchangeably out of three
different ego states, which ego state of mine is it that may transact with
any one of yours? How can I be sure to reach the ego state in you that I
hope to address in order to obtain the strokes I want in exchange?

15. Life positions
Depending on the understanding of the ego states individuals
can understand their life positions. As per transactional analysis,
there are four life positions.
The OK corral
(Franklin Ernst,
1971)

16. Blame Model
The Transactional Analysis 'Okay Corral' can be linked to 'blame', for
which Jim Davis developed this simple and helpful model.
Commonly when emotions are triggered people adopt one of three
attitudes relating to blame, which each correlate to a position on the
Okay Corral:
 I'm to blame (You are okay and I'm not okay - 'helpless')
 You are to blame (I'm okay and you are not okay - 'angry')
 We are both to blame (I'm not okay and you are not okay -
'hopeless')
None of these is a healthy position.
Instead the healthy position is, and the mindset should be: "It's no-one's
fault, blame isn't the issue - what matters is how we go forward
and sort things out." (I'm okay and you are okay - 'happy')

17. The Script Analysis
The script is a life plan, made when we are growing up. It is
like having the script of a play in front of us - we read the
lines and decide what will happen in each act and how the
play will end. The script is developed from our early
decisions based upon our life experience.
Roles
 Legitimate roles:- these roles are realistically
appropriate to the situation.
 Illegitimate roles :-the roles are said to be illegitimate if
they are used like masks and people use them for the
purposes of manipulation

18. Driver Behaviour or Working Styles
These are ways in which we defend against the injunctions.
These are very helpful to us and when we understand them
we can work to their strengths through choice, rather than
because subconsciously we believe we have to do things
this way to be okay. The names of five working styles have
been developed, these are:
 Be Perfect
 Be Strong
 Try Hard
 Please Others
 Hurry Up

19. Time Structuring
The way in which we structure time is likely to reflect the
different hungers. We all structure time in a variety of ways:
 Withdrawal
 Rituals
 Pastiming
 Activities
 Games
 Intimacy
Obtaining balance means ensuring that we have sufficient
time for play and intimacy and if this does not occur then it
would be beneficial to explore what we might be avoiding.

20. Game analysis
When similar situations keep happening over and over again then the term
Transactional Analysis uses for this is a game. A game is a familiar pattern of
behaviour with a predictable outcome.
Games are learned patterns of behaviour, and most people play a small number
of favourite games with a range of different people and in varying intensities.
Games vary in the length of time that passes while they are being played. Some
can take seconds or minutes while others take weeks months or even years.
People play games for these reasons:
 To structure time
 To acquire strokes
 To maintain the substitute feeling and the system of thinking, beliefs and
actions that go with it
 To confirm parental injunctions and further the life script
 To maintain the person's life position by "proving" that self/others are not
OK
 To provide a high level of stroke exchange while blocking intimacy and
maintaining distance
 To make people predictable.

21. The Philosophy of Transactional
Analysis
The philosophical assumptions of transactional
analysis are:
People are OK.
Everyone has the capacity to think.
People decide their own destiny, and these
decisions can be changed.

22. Applications of TA
Personal change
Educational change
Organizational change
Spiritual change
Social Change