Transactional analysis (TA) is a modern concept of psychology developed in 1950’s by Eric Berne. It is a simple and accessible way of learning psychology at depth. The concepts within TA are simple and can be explained in a few minutes. TA theory can be used in a number of ways:
- Personal growth
- Understanding of self
- Relational dynamics (understanding our relationship with self and others)
- Theory of communication
The goal of TA is autonomy which can described as:
Awareness – responding and assessing the situation in the here and now. We may use our positive learning experiences to help us, but don’t let your past colour how we move forward.
Spontaneity – being able to do things which excite you without your past holding you back. When you do things you enjoy, you notice that time flows (Mihail Csikszentmihalyi – check out his Ted Talk here).
Capacity for closeness – where we feel connected to the people around us and we can talk openly and honestly with people. These would be intimate conversations which take place in coaching conversations for example.
The key philosophy of TA is (Stewart and Joines) 2002:
People are OK – In TA we talk about OKness, and this is about acceptance of self and acceptance of others. This is not to be confused with being OK with people’s behaviour. I can value a person and their potential but, I do not have to accept their behaviour. People are not their behaviour and the two are separate.
People have the capacity to make their own decisions – this is a statement that people hold their own power and their own sense of agency. That they can choose their own way, and they can change their decisions. We can choose to do things and not be held back by our past.
People (with a few exceptions) can to think in their own way – I have changed this statement to include ‘their own way’ to capture those who are neuro-diverse. They think differently, they process differently and have their own approach. This brings new and different perspectives to their work.
The roots of TA would be in psychoanalytical theory, psychodynamics, and humanistic psychology. It is about creating a better and healthier psychological lifestyle.
Like ice creams flavours, TA comes in different flavours or fields as it’s most commonly known:
- Counselling
- Organisational
- Psychotherapy
- Education
You can find out more about the fields and their aims here on the UKATA website.
Here are a few key concepts of TA:
Ego state model – this is the Parent, Adult and Child model shown in three stacked circles (we get proficient at drawing snowmen!). The model helps us understand where we are communicating from and to. The aim being to be in the Adult ego state and access the other useful parts of the Parent and Child ego state. This is known as the Integrating Adult (IA) and you can learn more about the model here
Transactions – These describe how we communicate with each other from one ego state to another. This is how we communicate with others and ourselves. We have our own inner narrative and a relationship with ourself, TA helps provide an understanding of your inner narrative.
Strokes – This is described as a social unit of recognition; we can also consider this as a unit of energy. Strokes are positive such as ‘I love your dress’ or negative such as ‘I don’t like it when you don’t say hello’. They can be non-verbal like a smile or a frown. They can also be conditional such as ‘I like it when you work hard’ or unconditional ‘I love how you are’
There are far too many tools for me to list here, but they are extraordinarily helpful and insightful. I will be writing about them in my blogs and how I use them in my practice.
Why do I use TA?
I use TA because this speaks to the parts of behaviour we cannot see, we look for the hidden meanings and messages and some are more obvious than others. For example two people are out on a date and they head home, one of them asks the other if they want to come back for a coffee. On the surface it is innocent, but the real meaning is something quite different!
TA specifically looks at working with the psychological level with people and organisations and not the social. This is important because the psychological level is where the commitment and true intent lies or as they say ‘talk is cheap!’ In essence change in any form takes place at the psychological level whether that be with one person, a group or an organisation.
Change is hard in organisations because the focus and interventions are typically aimed at the social (surface) level than the psychological (underlying beliefs and assumptions). This is similar to what Edgar Schein’s Levels of Culture model which he shares ‘Culture is like a lily pond’
- Behaviours – Flowers we can see
- Values/Beliefs/Attitude – The stem which supports the flower
- Underlying assumptions – The roots buried in the ground feeding the flower
A good way to spot if there is something wrong in an organisation is to look at the level of congruence across the three levels. Incongruence is one of my key methods of diagnosing a problem, as this will not only have knock on effects in the system, it will likely be caused around some underlying assumption (psychological level).
My good friend Graham has also written an intro to TA and you can find it here
Want to know more about TA in organisations or in general check out the podcast 3 people in your head:
Introduction to TA – http://www.3peopleinyourhead.com/e/episode-2-7-things-about-ta/
Organisational TA – http://www.3peopleinyourhead.com/e/episode-5-transactional-analysis-and-organisations-a-interview-with-marian-timmermans/
If you want to find out more about TA or how I work in organisations drop me a line at nims@h3consulting.co.uk
Nims is an Organisational Design and Development consultant at the MOD, she also freelances and supports SMEs. She is an executive coach and a trainee transactional analyst in the field of organisations.
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