Transactional Therapy: Parent Adult Child

Transactional Therapy
 Developed by Eric Berne

 It is based on personality theory related to structural &
TA
 It is interactional therapy
 Used in individual therapy but is appropriate for group
approaches
 There three ego states:
PARENT ADULT CHILD
What is Transactional Analysis ?
 TA is a theory about how and why people behave the way they do
 A method of understanding behavior in interpersonal dynamics.
 Transactional Analysis or TA is a way of understanding
 … and changing human behavior

 … why communication fails and how it can be corrected
 … one to one relationship s
 Transactional Analysis (TA) combines theories of human development personality

and communication in a powerful psychological system t provides a framework
for understnding human process and making person change.
Why Study Transactional Analysis
 Becoming aware of your and someone else’s needs

 Adopting a more positive view of yourself and others
 Understanding how you behave and why
 Recognizing that you can alter the way you behave
 Respond to a person and situation more appropriately
 Building rapport with others
 Dealing more effectively with difficult people
Key Concepts:
1. View of Human Nature
 Persons are able to understand their past

decision & that they can chose to re decide
 It places faith in the persons capacity to rise

above habit patterns & to select new goals &
behaviour
 Berne believed that human being have the

capacity to choose (needs awareness)
Key Concepts:
2. The Ego States
 It is based on personality theory
 PARENT ADULT CHILD
 PARENT:
 Should & ought; don’ts
 Parent can be critical parent or nurturing parent
 It is as we see our parents do, act to the situation

The Parent State
 A person in NP state may:
 Use words such as well-done, good, gentle, caring, don't worry
 Use a loving, caring, comforting or concerned tone of voice
 Use encouraging gestures, smiling, leaning forward, nodding of head
 Have a caring, understanding attitude
 A person in CP state may:

 Use words, such as bad, should, ought, must, always, ridiculous, unacceptable
 Use a patronizing, critical or disapproving
 Use aggressive gestures, follows rules, slogans, holds opinions without thinking first of
fact
 Come across as judgmental, authoritarian
 Be intimidating or controlling
Key Concepts:
2. The Ego States
 ADULT:
 Processor of data information
 Objective part of personality
 Aware of situation
 Not emotional, nor judgmental
 Works with facts & external reality
 Searches best solution to the problem
Adult State
 A person in Adult Sate is likely to

 Speak in an even voice
 Use straight forward facial expression
 Figure out things logically
 Have an erect posture and use open gestures
 Be alert and thoughtful about a problem they are facing
 Clarify the situation by careful questioning
 Use phrases like; “In my opinion, “Based on my observation”
 Hypothesize and process information
 Use words like correct, how, what, why, practical, quality
Key Concepts:
View of Human Nature (cont…)
 CHILD:
 Feelings impulses & spontaneous acts
 Natural child; little professor or Adopted child
 Natural child is impulsive, untrained, spontaneous, expressive
 Little professor is unschooled wisdom of a child, manipulative
and creative
 Adopted child a modification of the natural child inclination
Child… what we were when we were
young
 A person in free child state may
 Be smiling, laughing, having fun, Open to life\
 Use words as wow, great, ouch, want

 Talk loudly, energetically, free of constraint
 Use spontaneous gestures and expressions
 Be curious, fun-loving, changeable
 A person in adapted child may
 Cry, get into trouble
 Use childlike facial expression s

 Use words such as can’t, hope, please, perhaps, wish
 Look for approval and reassurance
 Come across as innocent, helpless, sad, scared
 Act in a defiant, ashamed or compliant way
Key Concepts:
Life Scripts & the basic Psychological Position
 Life scripts are the early parental teachings

that we learn and early decision that we
make as children and continue to carry
around with us as adults
 Should, ought, don’ts, do’s

Therapeutic Procedures
Script Analysis
 Script plan for the life time
 Series if decision & adaptation
 The individual experiences certain life events,
accepts and learns definite roles and rehearses and
acts out these roles according the script
 Scripts occurs non verbally through parents during
infancy
 Eg., worth
 Later eg., I can do almost anything that I really decide
I want to do. I know I can attain my goals if I channel
my efforts in a direction I want to go in
Key Concepts:
Four Basic Position
1. I am OK – You are OK
• Both feel like winner
• Straight across relationship
2. I am OK – You’re Not OK
• Positions of people who project their problem on the others and
blame others
• Arrogant position
3. I am Not OK – You’re OK
• Positions of a depressed person
• Powerless in comparison to others
4. I am Not OK – You’re not OK
• Futile position of those who give up hope
• Who have lost interest in living
• Who see life as without any promise
Key Concepts:
The Human Need for Strokes
 We need to be touched physically & emotionally

 If stroking needs are unmet then they develop in a unhealthy
manner
 Strokes can be positive or negative
 Received in life scripts
 Conditions ones behavior
 TA deals how we get strokes & to learn to ask for the strokes
we want
Key Concepts:
Games we Play
 Games are exchange of strokes

 Games might give appearance of intimacy
 ‘poor me’, ‘martyrs’, ‘yes, but’, ‘if it weren’t for you’,
‘look what you made me do’, ‘harassed’
 Parents play to control their children
 Children imitate developed one
 End up not ok
Games People Play
 Games are a set of transactions that have surface logic but hidden meaning and attempt
to draw in an unsuspecting participant.
 An outcome of games is always a win-lose propositions
 Typical Games
▪ Between A shop keeper and a house wife:
▪ “This one is better, but you cannot afford it”
▪ Between A Teacher and a Student:

 “This is a good topic, but you cannot handle it.”
▪ Between an Expert and a Candidate: “What you just said is totally wrong”
Therapeutic Process
1. Therapeutic Goals:
• To assist the client in making new decisions regarding
his or her present behaviour & the direction of his or her
life
• To have freedom of choice
2. Therapist’s functions and Role:

• To play attention to the didactic and emotional issues
• Teacher, trainer & resource person – emphasis on
involvement
• Equal relationship
Therapeutic Process
3. Clients experience in therapy:

• To learn
• Awareness
• Self determination
4. The relationship between the therapist and

the client:
• Contractual form of therapy
• Goals are stated
 Therapeutic techniques are from a variety of

sources
 Gestalt therapy
 They focus self awareness & autonomy
 Applicable to individual and psychotherapy

and group treatment
Structural Analysis
 Tool by which person becomes aware of the content

& functioning of his/her ego states P-A-C
 How to identify their own ego states
 SA helps to resolve patterns where he was stuck
 Helps to find out which ego state his behaviour is
based on
 Two types of problems related to the structure of
personality
1. Contamination 2. Exclusion
1. Structural Analysis: Contamination
 Eg., Don’t mix with

those children they are
Parent not of your kind’
 You cant trust
teenagers
Adult
 Contamination from the
parent ego state
typically manifested
through prejudicial
Child
ideas & attitudes
 Eg., I want, I Should …

get right now
Parent  Child
Adult
Child
 Both the parent & child

contaminates adult
Parent
Adult
Child
1. Structural Analysis
b. Exclusion:
This exist when an excluding – child ego state can block out
the parent or when an Exclusion parent ego state can block
out the child that is when rigid state boundaries do not allow
free moment
1. Structural Analysis b. Exclusion:
 Person who is duty
Parent bound & work oriented
Exclusion of Adult & Child
 Judgmental, moralistic
‘The Constant Parent ‘
& demanding of others

Adult
 Dominating &
authoritarianism
Child
 Objective
Parent  Involved & concerned
with facts
Exclusion of Parent & Child
 Appears robot like

‘The Constant Adult ‘
Adult
 Little feeling & little
spontaneity
Child
 Sociopath
Parent
 Without a conscience
Exclusion of Parent & Adult
 Child like
‘The Constant Child ‘
Adult
 Refuses to grow up
 Remains dependent
Child
2. Didactic Methods:
 TA emphasis cognitive domain
 Teaching & learning are basic to the approach
 Books are recommended
 Conference, workshop, events…..on TA

3. Transactional Analysis:
 It is description of what people do & say to

one another
 What ever happen b/w people it is b/w ego
states
 When message is sent responses is
expected
 Responses can be:
– Complimentary, Crossed & Ulterior
3. Transactional Analysis: A. Complimentary
1. I’d love to go sliding in

the snow with you
Parent Parent
2. Hey that sounds like

fun lets go!
Adult Adult
When a message sent from a

1 specific ego states, gets predicted
response from a specific ego state
Child Child of the other person
2
3. Transactional Analysis: B. Crossed Transaction
1. I’d love to go sliding in

the snow with you
Parent Parent
2. Oh, grow up and act

2 your age, I don’t have
Adult Adult time to waste on
foolishness like that
When an unexpected
Child 1 Child response is made that a
person sends out
Transactional Analysis: C. Ulterior Transaction
a. Let’s go out & play in

the snow
Parent Parent
b
b. Lets be responsible &
Adult Adult finish our work
He is sending mixed message

Child a Child
Empty Chair
Role Playing
Family Modeling
Analysis of Rituals, Pastimes & Games
 Used in structuring of time

 A person who fills his/her time chiefly with rituals and
pastime is probably experiencing stroke deprivation
 These lacks intimacy in his/her transaction with
others
 Ritual & pastime transaction have low stroke value
 Lead to complaints such as emptiness, boredom,
lack of excitement, feeling unloved, a sense of
meaninglessness
8. Analysis of Games & Rackets
 Games are ‘an ongoing series of

complementary ulterior or transaction
progressing to a well defined predictable
outcome
 Racket consist of the collection of feelings
that one uses to justify ones life scripts and
ultimately ones decision
 Peers develop ‘anger racket’ , ‘hurt racket’
‘guilt racket’
Strokes
 Stroking is an act of recognition from another person

 Everyone has to have strokes (affection, recognition and
praise)
 Strokes may be
 Positive, negative and mixed
 Conditional and unconditional
Types of Strokes
Positive Stokes Negative Strokes

Verbal Hello how are you I’m in no mood to talk
doing to you today.
Non verbal Smile Frown

Written This is a strong There are a number of
assignment showing errors in this
your real insight and assignment, suggesting
thought. you have not done your
work properly
Giving and receiving strokes
 Be sincere in giving and receiving strokes
 Accept strokes positively from other people
 Make a conscious effort to give strokes to other people
 Try to recognize other people’s reaction to strokes
 Ask for strokes when you feel you need them
 Give yourself strokes when you feel you deserve/need them

 Any Questions?

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Transactional Therapy

 Developed by Eric Berne

 A method of understanding behavior in interpersonal dynamics.

 Transactional Analysis or TA is a way of understanding

 … and changing human behavior

 Transactional Analysis (TA) combines theories of human development personality

 Becoming aware of your and someone else’s needs

 Persons are able to understand their past

 It places faith in the persons capacity to rise

 Berne believed that human being have the

 It is based on personality theory

 PARENT ADULT CHILD

 Parent can be critical parent or nurturing parent

 It is as we see our parents do, act to the situation

 A person in CP state may:

 A person in Adult Sate is likely to

 A person in free child state may

 Be smiling, laughing, having fun, Open to life\

 Use words as wow, great, ouch, want

 A person in adapted child may

 Cry, get into trouble

 Use childlike facial expression s

 Life scripts are the early parental teachings

 Should, ought, don’ts, do’s

 We need to be touched physically & emotionally

 Games are exchange of strokes

▪ Between A shop keeper and a house wife:

▪ “This one is better, but you cannot afford it”

▪ Between A Teacher and a Student:

2. Therapist’s functions and Role:

3. Clients experience in therapy:

4. The relationship between the therapist and

 Therapeutic techniques are from a variety of

 They focus self awareness & autonomy

 Applicable to individual and psychotherapy

 Tool by which person becomes aware of the content

 Eg., Don’t mix with

 Eg., I want, I Should …

 Both the parent & child

the parent or when an Exclusion parent ego state can block

& demanding of others

 Appears robot like

 TA emphasis cognitive domain

 Teaching & learning are basic to the approach

 Books are recommended

 Conference, workshop, events…..on TA

 It is description of what people do & say to

1. I’d love to go sliding in

2. Hey that sounds like

When a message sent from a

1. I’d love to go sliding in

2. Oh, grow up and act

a. Let’s go out & play in

He is sending mixed message

 Used in structuring of time

 Games are ‘an ongoing series of

 Stroking is an act of recognition from another person

Positive Stokes Negative Strokes

Non verbal Smile Frown

 Be sincere in giving and receiving strokes

 Accept strokes positively from other people

 Make a conscious effort to give strokes to other people