Transactional analysis

Transactional analysis is a psychoanalytic theory and method based on the analysis of communication, i.e. the exchange of messages between people. With the help of communication analysis, it is possible to investigate an individual’s personality and identify where certain characteristics came from. The originator of the theory of transactional analysis is Eric Berne, who developed this method in the middle of the last century. It is inspired by the ideas of Sigmund Freud, but the main difference is that Freud focused on the analysis of the individual’s personality, and Berne concluded that better insight can be achieved by analyzing the communication and social relations of the individual. Transactional analysis can achieve excellent results and improve the interactions and interpersonal relationships of the individual.

3 ego states

Transactional analysis theory assumes that destructive and dysfunctional behavior stems from defensive decisions made in childhood. That is why Berne explains that each individual has 3 states of ego: Parent, Adult, and Child. Depending on the past and childhood experiences, the person will be in a particular state during the interaction. He also believes that people are most often in the state of a Parent or Child, and it is only through conscious work and transactional analysis that the state of the Adult is reached. Thus, interacting with another individual can be in any of these three states. The condition of the Child occurs as a reaction to positive or negative lessons from childhood, which still rules us today. The state of the Parent is the result of interaction with our parents or other authority from childhood – and we take the behavior we have noticed in them as our own. The target state is the state of the Adult who does not react to stimuli from the past but interacts with his current environment – he is characterized by rationality and healthy communication.

How can transactional analysis help you?

The transactional analysis gives you insight not only into the patterns of your behavior but also into its causes. With it, you can discover how your personality was shaped by previous childhood experiences. Want to develop better communication skills? TA is the perfect method for you – it will teach you how to improve your communication with others from the state of an Adult and you will be able to improve existing relationships in every aspect of life. Although transactional analysis offers long-term solutions, it is also applicable as a short-term treatment, which is suitable for anyone who wants to discover negative patterns of their behavior as soon as possible and turn over a new leaf. Finally, the main idea of ​​transactional analysis is summarized in the quote of its originator:

“Awareness requires living in the here and now, and not in the elsewhere, the past or the future.”

– Eric Berne