Transactional Analysis

Transactional Analysis is a theory that involves an individual's growth and development. It is also a theory related to communication and child development explaining the connections to our past and how this influences decisions we make. Transactional Analysis was developed during the late 1950's by psychiatrist Eric Berne.

Berne recognised three key “ego-states” - Parent, Adult and Child. The Parent ego state is a set of thoughts, feelings and behaviours we leant from our parents and other important people. The Adult ego state relates to direct responses to the 'here and now' that are not influenced by our past. The Child ego state is a set of thoughts, feelings and behaviours learnt from our childhood. The ego-states are useful for analysing unconscious scripts and "games" people play.

Transactional Analysis seeks to identify what goes wrong in communication and provide opportunities for individuals to change repetitive patterns that limit their potential. It encourages individuals to analyse previous decisions they have made to understand the direction and patterns of their life for themselves. It also helps clients to trust their decisions and think/act as an individual improving the way they feel about themselves. TA is a humanistic approach and like Person-Centred Counselling focuses on the here and now concept.