Benefits and Vulnerabilities of Transactional Analysis Therapy

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a system of therapy based on the idea that we take the behavior, feelings, and thoughts from childhood into our adult relationships, and play them out over and over again. If these childhood relationships were healthy, then the adult relationships are healthy as well. If the relationships were not healthy, then TA can help change how the individual interacts with the people in his life now.

Especially beneficial in a group setting, TA offers individuals a chance to look more deeply at how they see themselves and the others in their lives. The relationships that develop within the group reflect the damaged childhood relationships, and letting those play out again in the TA group allows the therapist to explain, interpret, and challenge the beliefs that play out.

TA developer Eric Berne identified three ego states we use to express ourselves, the Child ego state, Parent ego state, and Adult ego state. All individuals, even healthy ones, go back and forth between these ego states. Berne believed that awareness is the important first step in change, so he encourages those in therapy to become aware of which ego state they are using at any given time. In addition, we are taught to behave in certain ways in relationships, and our being in these roles teach us certain scripts, or ways we see life. We play out these dysfunctional scripts with others until we become aware and make the decision to change our behavior.

These changes are actually quite difficult to master for several reasons. First, the reinforcement of the behavior in childhood results in not only an emotional or psychological pattern but also a physiological mapping of the brain chemistry. Also, we are motivated by the reinforcement we get as children, what Berne referred to as "strokes." We all need strokes, symbols of recognition and acceptance, but if these are reinforced in dysfunctional ways, then dysfunctional patterns are reinforced and become the standard for living.

We are motivated, according to Berne, by stimulus hunger (survival), structure hunger, and recognition hunger. Intimacy is the only thing that meets the needs of all three hungers, and if the only intimacy a child experiences is dysfunctional, then the child will learn that dysfunctional intimacy is the best he can do to meet his most basic needs and will continue in that dysfunctional pattern.

TA therapy works by challenging the current beliefs a person holds, the way she uses her life script, and the games that she plays in relationships. Because of the group nature of the therapy, there are many relationships available to look at, allowing the therapist a chance to demonstrate exactly how the dysfunctional patterns play out. Seeing the relationships in this new light, with the therapist's insight into the troublesome roles, scripts, and games allows the individual to make a decision about how to behave from that point on. With the awareness of the problematic behaviors and cognitions, she can make the choice to change the way she sees herself, the role she plays, the games the plays, and the scripts she chooses to employ in relationships.

TA can be helpful for some patients in that it emphasizes equality between therapist and patient, discouraging prejudicial sex roles, and it de-emphasizes the victim mentality, stressing the patient's commitment to the work. However, it can be considered too intellectual, without much of the emotional outpouring than many want and expect from therapy.