Module 1: Introduction and Background

Positions of Change

Transactional Analysis (TA) is in essence a theory of personality, more specifically how

personality develops over different life stages and how it is expressed in interactions with other

people. The theory outlines how we have developed, view and treat ourselves, how we relate and

communicate with others. The analysis and understanding is applied to offer suggestions and

interventions for personal change and growth in order to improve our relations with ourselves

and the world, and performance. Therefore, the central philosophy of TA is that people can and

do change, and that we have an inherent need to be valued and accepted. The theory is applied in

psychotherapy, organizations, educational and religious settings and continues to develop and

change in order to adapt to our dynamic knowledge and environment.

TA was first developed by Canadian-born U.S. psychiatrist Eric Berne, starting in the

1950s. His inaugural and seminal book on TA, titled “Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy”,

was published in 1961. The structural analysis of interpersonal stimuli and responses revealed

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

Introduce the basic concept of TA as a theory of personality as defined

through life positions

Discuss the parent, adult, and child ego states

Identify hoe TA is useful in working with families and children, and setting

therapy goals

Describe the concept of roles and games in interpersonal interaction

different types of “transactions”. In TA, the concept of transactions refers to how people interact

with each other—which ego state in me is talking to which ego state in the other person. The

perpetuation of uncomfortable or problematic interactions with another person is not so much a

factor of his or her behavior, but our own state of mind. According to the TA framework, we

shift between three different ego states. These are the parent, child, and adult states, which will

be discussed further in the next section. In a follow-up book, Berne (1964) described four

positions of change, or life positions, that a person can hold, which have a profound impact on

their interactions with another person and their own life. The positions are defined as follows.

1. I’m OK and you are OK (I+U+). This is the most constructive position where

the person accepts their own worth, but also those of others. Although people with

this life position are generally happy, energetic, and balanced, they are not

necessarily the most effective in life or cope the best. They tend to be too

accommodating and trusting, and may be too carefree and unrealistic.

2. I’m OK and you are not OK (I+U-). People with this life position is confident,

decisive, and dominant. However, they tend to have a false sense of superiority

and power, and can be impatient and aggressive. They don’t accept responsibility

for their actions and may blame others for failures and negative consequences.

They have narcissistic traits and exploit or use others to achieve their goals. They

also often have difficulty trusting others, which make them paranoid.

3. I’m not OK and you are OK (I-U+). People with this life position will likely be

dependent and submissive. They tend to feel inadequate and compare themselves

unfavorably to others. They constantly seek approval from others and internalize

their distress, which makes them depressed and anxious.

4. I’m not OK and you are not OK (I-U-). People with this life position often

developed feeling ignored, neglected, or abused. They adapt by forming coping

mechanisms that lead to dysfunctional behavior by adolescence and later.

Unpleasant thoughts and feelings are either internalized as depression or anxiety,

or externalized as anger and aggression.

The four main positions of change, or life positions, as defined by Berne (1964), are

useful from many perspectives to understand positions from which interpersonal interactions are

initiated and responded to, including personal wellbeing and mental health, organizational

effectiveness and productivity, and team functioning. Berne’s four life positions are presented in

Figure 1.

Figure 1: Life Position Summary

It is important to realize that most people do not consistently act from a single life

position and positions change and adapt according to situational needs and personal maturity. In

a more recent book, Australian psychologist and TA analyst, Tony White, altered the life

positions to better represent or explain disorders that have since been recognized and appears to

have become more widespread.

1. I’m not OK, you are OK (I-U+). This life position is similar to (3) in Berne’s

list above.

2. I’m not OK, you’re not OK (I-U-). This life position is similar to (4) in Berne’s

list above.

3. I’m not OK, but you are worse (I-U--). This life position is similar to (4) in

Berne’s list above, but people with this position convince themselves that others

are less well in order to reassure themselves of their own value. As a result, they

tend to deny or avoid their own problems.

4. I’m not OK, you are irrelevant (I-U?). A person with this life position has no

clear sense of boundaries between themselves and others. They tend to be

emotional and unstable, have an unclear concept of reality, and could exhibit

antisocial traits whereby they lack the ability or need to empathize with others.

5. I’m OK, you are OK (I+U+). This life position is similar to (1) in Berne’s list

above.

6. I’m a bit more OK than you are (I++U+). This is an autonomy position in

which the person relates to themselves and others from a confident and positive

position. It is a natural, stable, and supportive life position.

7. I’m OK, you are irrelevant (I+U?). A person with this life position is self-

centered and have no clear sense or need for boundaries between themselves and

others. Others either exist to meet their needs or may as well not exist at all.

White (1994) believes that his extended life positions better clarifies and provides a more

complete explanation and distinction of human behavior and personality. In contrast with

Berne’s original conceptualization, White proposes that life positions can be fairly permanent

and innate or adaptable according to context and situational requirements, depending on their

level. Herein, surface, minute-by-minute relating—or floating—are separated from the deeper,

more permanent, character level of relating—or commitment. The latter concept better represents

the sense of identity and personality that is more stable across relationships and time, while less

situational influenced.

Mountain and Davidson (2011) added a third dimension to the original life position

quadrant (see Figure 1) to represent the view of another, third party—they (T+ positive or T-

negative)—to conceptualize life positions in family, work, or other group contexts (Figure 2). By

further integrating this with White’s extended life positions, we can argue that the I++U+T+

character-level position would be the most optimal in the sense that it is positively balanced in

terms of self-confidence, and a considerate and sympathetic view of others.

Figure 2: Three-Dimensional Life Positions

In summary, life positions are basic beliefs about the self and others, which are used to

justify decisions and behavior, consciously and unconsciously. Life positions at the character

level are stable and underlying daily interactions, but become especially apparent when a person

is distressed or under pressure. As the surface-level life positions are more readily changeable,

initial interventions can be aimed at this level to eventually alter problematic character-level life

positions.

Child, Parent, and Adult

Another central concept in Transactional Analysis (TA) has been derived from Freud’s

conception of the human psyche. He believed that that the majority of what we experience in our

lives, the underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a

conscious level. Freud defined three elements of personality that underlie and create complex

behaviors, namely the id, ego, and superego. The id aspect is entirely unconscious and includes

instinctive and primitive behaviors that is driven by the need for immediate gratification of all

desires, wants, and needs. The ego functions in the conscious and unconscious mind and is the

component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. As such, the ego accepts

delayed gratification. The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized

moral standards and ideals and encompasses a sense of right and wrong and guidelines for

making judgments.

Where Freud titled the three ego states id, ego, and superego, Eric Berne, using Freud’s

ideas as a basis, redefined them as the Parent, Adult and Child ego states. The three ego states

are applied as a functional model in Transactional Analysis (TA), which explores how we use the

ego states to relate to others and ourselves. Each ego state is associated with a distinct state of

mind that has related patterns of verbal and nonverbal behavior. The Parent state is defined as

being “a set of feelings, attitudes, and behavior patterns, which resemble those of a parental

figure” (Berne, 1961, p. 75). The child will either develop a personality that directly represents

the behavior that they perceive his or her parents to have exhibited—Do as I Do—or in a way

that their parents expected them to respond—Do as I Say. Berne further states that the Adult is

“characterized by an autonomous set of feelings, attitudes, and behavior patterns, which are

adapted to the current reality” (p. 76). The Parent ego state can be divided into two functions.

The first is the Nurturing Parent, which is soft, loving, and accommodating. It is also generous,

helpful, and sympathetic, but tends to create dependence and weak boundaries, is sensitive and

irritable, and takes on too many problems of others, and is thereby prone to vicarious stress. The

second Parent ego state is the Critical or Controlling Parent. This part of the personality contains

the prejudiced and critical thoughts that we have learned from our parents. It takes quick

decisions, maintains high standards, and assumes responsibility. However, on the negative side,

it tends to suppress initiative and spontaneity, is intolerant and accusing, strict, reprimanding,

and prone to anger and aggression.

The Adult ego state is rational and reasoned. Here, things are planned, facts checked, and

questions asked to make the most appropriate decisions for the situation. As such, it is the area of

logic, consideration, objective examination, decision-making, and responsibility. Conflicts and

confrontations are solved in a balanced and sober way. However, the Adult ego may come across

as unemotional, superficial, dull, and boring at times. The Adult state is considered as the most

stable and positive of the three ego states. As such, objectives in personal development,

coaching, counseling, or therapy are often modeled on the traits and behavior of the Adult ego

state.

The Child ego state is part of our personality that holds the emotions, thoughts, feelings,

and memories that are associated with childhood. As such, it identifies with immature, distorted,

and impulsive views of a situation and can prevent the Adult state from engaging objectively and

accurately with reality. Like with the Parent state, the Child state is also divided into two

functions, namely the Free Child and Adapted Child ego states. The Free Child ego state is the

core of spontaneous feelings and behavior. It experiences the world in an unfettered and

immediate way. The Free Child state is playful, expressive, enthusiastic, and creative. It derives

pleasure impulsively and easily, but it is also reckless and inconsiderate. The Adapted Child is a

part of the personality that has learned to comply with demands and expectations, but when it

can be compromising, considerate, and modest, it can also be scared, reserved, and hesitant. It

avoids conflict and criticism, but can also become rebellious if pushed too far. The three ego

states are illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Illustration of Berne’s Ego States

As we have seen, the ego states make up our personalities in different combinations. No

ego state is only positive or only negative, and the main features of each is listed in Figure 4.

These characteristics determine our view of ourselves, others, and the word, and guide our

responses accordingly in terms of thoughts, feelings, and behavior. An understanding of ego

states can help ourselves and help us to help others engage more positively with our

environment. It makes us more aware of opportunities to change and grow. Personality is

relatively stable, so change will not necessarily come quickly or easily, but it is possible with

practice. Transactional analysis can make this possible.

Figure 4: Personality Features of the Ego States

We will return to ego states and its practical applications in more detail in the next

section. For now, it suffices to be aware of the main ego states and their influence on feelings

and behavior. It is by recognizing our own and others’ ego states at any time in an interaction

that we are best equipped and able to respond appropriately and positively. As Wagner (1981)

reminded us:

“You are six different people, and so am I. You have six different personalities, and so do

your subordinates, your customers, your boss, your spouse and your children. Right now

you are operating within one of those personalities, and at any moment you may activate

another one instead.” (p. 1).

Families and Children

As the essence of Transactional Analysis (TA) deals with how we interact with others, it

is useful in group contexts such as families and work teams. TA relates to the development and

expression of personality, and therefore childhood and the family as a dynamic relational system

is relevant. Furthermore, TA therapy methods are particularly useful in family contexts as the

method is well defined, the simplicity of the system and terminology is very suitable for groups

of different competencies, it is easy to talk about and diagram, which is important to enable

people to “see” and understand what is happening in their relationships with others within the

family unit. They can better relate to the ego states—characters in a sense—and life positions

that are involved in interpersonal interactions than is the case with other systems of

psychotherapy. Instead of emphasizing problems and issues of each group member and in their

behavior and relationships with each other—which has the tendency of amplifying problem

behavior and resistance—the TA methodology focuses instead on developing the states that are

supposed to be a part of everyone, and place them in a correct context that is appropriate to

situations and beneficial to family relationships. As such, the emphasis is on strengths and

potential development areas that are dealt with in a practical and non-confrontational manner.

This will certainly assist families better than with other approaches to develop more comfortable

and intimate relationships while also having fun with each other. Indeed, humor can be a most

useful and effective therapeutic tool that can eliminate feelings of shame, anger, deficiency, and

resistance from the family sessions, while relieving pressure and unreasonable expectations.

Therefore, TA is considered to be almost like an art form that is applied as a supplement to more

structured analytical and psychotherapy methods, and its lively and healing overtones are

extremely suitable for distressed family units and couples.

In a study that was conducted recently in 2012 at the Payame Noor University in Iran, the

effectiveness of Transactional Analysis (TA) to increase family functioning among distressed

families and couples were demonstrated. The authors found a statistically significant

improvement in family functioning in the experimental group after just eight sessions, as

measured by aspects of problem solving, communication, roles, affective responsiveness,

affective involvement, behavioral control and general functioning. The TA framework

acknowledges that a family is more than a group of people living in close psychological and

physiological proximity, but is rather a natural social system that is bound by a set of rules,

different roles, and communication styles within a systematic structure. Many complicated and

negotiation and problem solving strategies are involved that are often taken for granted. As such,

there are reciprocal, strong, and enduring emotional attachments in the family system that

connect its members together that can become detached, defensive, or otherwise dysfunctional

under distressing circumstances, thereby creating disputes and incompatibility.

As a system, TA recognizes that persons have distinct personality makeups and views of

themselves and the world that are created and developed in the childhood home. Personal

problems begin within the family and its relationships and expectations and therefore family is

the place where such problems should be resolved in. The implicit “contracts and expectations

within the family unit govern interpersonal relationships and sub-systems, such as dyads, which

are significant pairings within the larger family dynamic, such as husband-wife, mother-child, or

father-child relationships. These “special” relationships within the larger structure are worthy of

attention in TA and family therapy in general as they can form unhealthy attachments and

behavior, among others by reinforcing and fixing inappropriate ego states and belief systems. For

example, in mother-child dyads, young children are active agents who influence and are

influenced by their relationship with their mother and who behave—across contexts and with

different social partners—in ways that reflect this relationship. Where competent children and

their mothers influence each other positively and reciprocally, aggressive children and their

mothers were still relatively positive, but children make more use of coercive control. On the

other hand, anxious children and their mothers are generally aversive, and use resistance,

unresponsiveness, and coercion to exert their roles in order to achieve their aspirations. As we

are able to see, any overuse or reversal of Parent and Child ego states can result in dysfunctional

and distressed interpersonal relationships in the family unit. The same applies to unclear and

inappropriate boundaries, which are the main reasons why relationships do not develop in

healthy ways. Where rigid boundaries are based on fear, diffuse or permeable boundaries cause

members to be both vulnerable and invasive towards others as they do not have a clear sense of

who they are, what their personal rights are, or what others’ rights are. Here, the tendency is to

be fixed in a perpetual Child or Parent state, or oscillate between the two, with both conditions

inappropriate in many situations, leading to psychological vulnerabilities and pathological

symptoms such as depression, anxiety, or aggression. Growing and/or changing expectations and

emotions may also lead to misunderstandings, which can lead to evolving conflict, hostility, or

internalized distress if not dealt with appropriately, preferably in the family environment.

Figure 5: Patterns of Attachment in the Family System

In general, the personality or ego states and worldview of each individual in the family

system, is greatly determined by attachment styles in childhood. The Child and I-U+ (I am not

OK, You are OK) states are insecure and ambivalent. The Parent and I+U- (I am OK, You are

not OK) states are expressed as an avoidant and rigid style. The Adult and I+U+ (I am OK, You

are OK) states are the most positive and productive, and—as we will see in the following

section—its attainment is the essential goal of TA treatment. The I-U- (I am not OK, You are not

OK) worldview is conducive to negative interactions that is insecure, unstable, and disorganized.

An analysis of these styles in the family unit is useful to understand each member’s point of

reference.

As such, TA is considered to be an interactive therapy that is intended to enhance the

awareness of and ability in making a sound decision by individuals and group within the family

in order to change their relationships and course of life for the better. Insights into their ego

states can improve their communications by awareness of the time and circumstances that their

interaction patterns are crossed. We will look at crossed ego states in the next module, but it

occurs when two “non-complimentary” ego states interact, a situation which is unsustainable and

typically confrontational. If they are aware of these particular interactions, they are able to make

a concerted and conscious effort to return to a complimentary transaction that is more positive

and stable.

Analysis and Treatment Goals

As we have mentioned before, the essential objective of Transactional Therapy (TA) is to

move clients closer to their Adult ego states and an I+U+ (I am OK, You are OK) view of

themselves and others who they interact with. This is a stable and secure frame of mind and

perspective within which mature and bilaterally beneficial transactions can take place. Unlike the

Parent and Child state, the Adult is not subdivided (refer to Figure 3). That’s because it is

thought to have access to all information—internal and external—and that is one of the reasons

that it is often a goal of TA therapy to strengthen the adult state. That is not to say that the Parent

and Child states are bad—as we have seen before, they do have advantages such as creativity and

structure, but because of their very limited awareness compared to the Adult, the Parent and

Child are not the most reliable states. Instead of rigid, impulsive, or deterministic decisions about

their lives and the direction of their lives and relationships, a more adaptive decision-making that

is situational and relational appropriate is facilitated. But, it is also important to acknowledge and

not deny the existence and role of the Parent and Child ego states. It is by denying and

suppressing these ego states that unresolved problems continue to bubble under the surface.

Therefore, the overarching goal of Transactional Analysis (TA) is the achievement of

autonomy through updating the strategies for dealing with life that we decided on in childhood.

In this context, autonomy is defined as awareness, spontaneity, and the capacity for intimacy.

Hereby clients learn to substitute an autonomous lifestyle that is characterized by manipulative

game-playing and a self-defeating life-script with more functional alternatives. In a later module,

we will return to the concepts of game-playing and life scripts, how they are formed, played out,

and can contribute to our daily problems. For now, in short, it suffices to define a “game” in TA

as a series of transactions between two (or more) people that is reciprocal, ulterior, and proceeds

towards a predictable outcome. The process of a game is often sub-conscious and can be

disruptive to relationships and deceptive in its consequences. Our “life script” or schema is

another way of describing the meaning we attribute to the events that happen to us and how we

interpret real or perceived events and react to it by way of feelings, thoughts, and behavior.

In TA therapy, clients learn to write their own new script instead of following their

previous script passively. As TA has a contractual approach, the counselor and client collaborate

closely to establish the specific goals that guide the therapy sessions and plans. A few other goals

are:

Being a catalyst to enable clients to mobilize their efforts.

Helping clients to obtain an amenable separation or distance from others.

Help clients break through impasses that stem from injunctions and early scripts.

In summary, by analyzing the client’s ego states and worldviews by examining personal

interactions and life scripts, a transactional therapist can make them aware of roles and beliefs

that influence their relationships, and that they may not even have been aware of. Awareness of

dysfunctional behavior is the start to developing more functional alternatives that will be more

appropriate and adaptive in daily interactions, and lead to less confrontations and internal

distress.

Roles and Games

The concepts of games, strokes, and rackets will be discussed in more detail in Module 3.

At this stage, only a brief introduction will be given, with a discussion of where and how games

relate to Transactional Analysis. According to British TA expert practitioner Dave Spenceley, a

game is a “series of complimentary ulterior transactions followed by [at least] one of the players

switching ego states, leading to a moment of confusion, followed by familiar feelings and

thoughts that reinforce the player’s life script.” Here, there are several important concepts. The

first is the requirement of “complimentary ulterior transactions”. Of course, transactions refer to

the dynamics that is contained in people’s interactions. According to TA, it is by changing the

negative and dysfunctional interactions that emotional problems are solved. As such, transactions

are the flow of communication, especially the unspoken and sometimes subconscious

psychological motivations that accompany the overt or explicit interaction. “Complimentary”

points to the fact that transaction that are part of games are parallel as the assumed ego states of

the players align in a way that it can be sustained. The concept is illustrated in the following

example. It is also important to note that the transactions are typically intentionally hidden—or

“ulterior”—to consciously or subconsciously deceive the other person into acting in a certain

way. There is always a gain or payoff at stake for the players that are aligned with their life

script, thereby reinforcing it each time that the game is played out. For example, payoff can be

earning sympathy, satisfaction, vindication, or superiority. At some point, usually towards the

end of the game, players switch ego states that always involve Parent and Child states. Compared

to the Adult state that is conscious, game playing is mostly outside of our awareness.

In games, roles are assumed by each player at any given time, and these can change

throughout. As mentioned, the roles are associated with Parent and Child ego states, and follow a

complimentary pattern. There are three basic roles, namely the victim, persecutor, and rescuer.

Victims are people who (1) provoke others to put them down, use them, or hurt

them, (2) send helpless messages, (3) conveniently forget, and (4) often act

confused. “You can make me feel bad or good.”

Persecutors (1) make unrealistic rules, (2) enforce rules in harsh, inappropriate, or

inflexible ways, and (3) bully “weaker” people rather than engaging their peers. “I

can make you feel bad.”

Rescuers are people who (1) offer helpfulness to keep others dependent on them,

(2) may not even have a real desire to help others, and (3) work to maintain the

victim role in others so that they can continue to act as a rescuer. “I can make you

feel good.”

This psychological and social model of human interaction by way of roles are often

referred to as the Karpman Drama Triangle. In a game, the players start from their familiar

favored position or role, but the game completes when one of the players switch roles. The

Karpman Drama Triangle is illustrated in the simple diagram in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Karpman Drama Triangle

According to a transactional analyst Claude Steiner, the Victim is not really as helpless as

he feels, the Rescuer is not really helping, and the Persecutor does not really have a valid

complaint. The covert purpose for each player and the reason the situation endures is that each

gets their unspoken and often unconscious psychological wishes or needs met in a manner they

feel justified, without having to consider or acknowledge the real or potential broader

dysfunction or harm done in the situation as a whole. As such, each player is acting upon their

own selfish needs, rather than acting in a genuinely responsible or altruistic manner that can be

associated with the Adult ego state. Eric Berne (1964) pointed out that in Transactional Analysis,

the drama triangle is sometimes referred to in the context of mind games—the unconscious

games played by innocent people. Examples—that will be explained later—include: Why Don't

You/Yes But; If It Weren't For You; Why does this Always Happen to Me?; See What You Made

Me Do; You Got Me Into This; Look How Hard I've Tried; I’m Only Trying to Help You; and Let

You and Him Fight. Oftentimes, the relationships are co-dependent, which can be sustained—at

least for a while, until someone’s needs are not adequately met and they shift position. A cycle of

abuse or addiction is possible when repeats and is reinforced with each repetition.

Practical Example: Life Positions and Stabilization of Ego States

As we have seen, our life positions and how they are expressed in a situation as our ego

states are durable as they are developed from childhood. They tend to form the stable basis of our

personality, causing many subconscious responses in the form of thoughts, feelings, and

behavior. Other than the Adult ego state and I’m OK, You’re OK life position, the Parent and

Child ego states and other life positions are often maladaptive have consequences that were not

intended. It is the objective of TA to recognize and understand these interactions and supply the

tools for clients to move into their Adult state, while accepting and being aware of their Parent

and Child states. The OK corral grid—see Figure 6—is a visual illustration of how our life

positions are acted out in real situations.

To a large extent, the position that is best aligned with our life script is favored as the

most comfortable, and will determine our game position/strategy, verbal communication, and

physiological expressions and mannerisms, all which is mostly unintentional and motivated by

subconscious needs and desires. By understanding someone’s likely position, they can be made

aware of it, understand the consequences, and invest effort in resolving the issues.

Figure 6: The Practical OK Corral Grid

Adapted from the Eric Berne Memorial Scientific Award Acceptance Speech by Franklin Ernst,

1981, Boston MA.

As we have demonstrated before, we move between the ego states all the time, but not in

a random way as it is dependent on a particular situation and the associations we make through

our past experiences. We also change states when interacting and responding to others,

especially when it suits our needs. Here is a very brief example to illustrate complementary

interactions. Bill is Jackie’s boss. Jackie comes in late and misses an important meeting.

(Bill): You’re useless.

(Jackie): I know. I’m sorry.

Let’s look at the transactional analysis. What has happened? Bill has likely been in his

Adult state, but, seeing Jackie, he became angry and switched to Parent, criticizing her harshly.

Jackie had also been in her Adult state, but in response to being shouted at, she moved to Child

where she felt small and bad, and meekly apologized. Notice what the arrows that depict the

interaction are doing; they align (Figure 5). These are said to be complimentary interactions or

transactions, and they have an important property in that they set up a reciprocal pattern that is

stable and could be maintained indefinitely. However, not all transactions are complimentary or

parallel, and in the next module we will explore this further by way of a different scenario.

Figure 5: Transactional Analysis of Complimentary Interactions

By now, we have explained many concepts that are central to the theory of Transactional

Analysis, including ego states, life position, games, roles, and how these determine our daily

interactions with others—called transactions in TA. In the next module we will cover the

fundamentals and significance of ego states in relationships, games, and introjections in more

detail.

You’re the Transactional Analyst

The interaction above is the briefest illustration of a complimentary transaction. Would you

say that this is sustainable?

Here, Bill acted from a Controlling Parent state, and Jackie from her Adaptive Child state.

Could Jackie have responded from a Free Child state? What if she said: “Yes. And I don’t

care”?

If Jackie responded from her Parent state as well, it would have been confrontational (We

will see an example in the next module.) Could Bill then have switched to his Child mode,

by apologizing?

The Adult state is the objective and reasonable dimension. Could Jackie have responded

from her Adult state?

In this module, we have discussed ego states and life positions and seen how they impact

on our relationships and daily lives. Our Parent and Child ego states are subconscious responses

to an environmental stimulus that is activated in accordance with past experiences. Our past

experiences, especially those in childhood, are also associated with the development of our life

positions, which represent the core view that we have of ourselves and the world. It can be very

dysfunctional if it causes behavior that are no longer appropriate in our present day lives. Life

positions are deeply rooted and difficult to change, but Transactional Analysis therapy has

proven successful to make us aware of our disruptive Child and Parent states, and to get us to

accept them and integrate them with our Adult ego state, thereby achieving better balance,

decision-making, and appropriate behavior.

References

Berne, E. (1961). Transactional analysis in psychotherapy: A systematic individual and social

psychology. New York, NY: Grove Press. DOI: 10.1037/11495-000

Berne, E. (1964). Games people play: The psychology of human relationships. New York, NY:

Grove Press.

Mountain, A., & Davidson, C. (2011). Working together: Organizational transactional analysis

and business performance. Burlington, VT: Bower Publishing Company.

Wagner, A. (1981). The transactional manager: How to solve people problems with

transactional analysis. Sydney, Australia: Prentice Hall.

White, T. (1994). Life positions. Transactional Analysis Journal, 24(4), 269-276.

White, T. (2000). New ways in transactional analysis (2nd

Ed.). North Perth, Australia: TA

Books.

KEY CONCEPTS

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a theory of personality that conceptualizes

four main life positions: I+U+, I+U-, I-U+, and I-U-.

TA defines three main ego states—Parent, Adult, and Child—to help us

understand our feelings and behaviors in different situations.

TA therapy has proven to be effective to improve functioning in family

systems.

The main goal of TA therapy is to assist clients to associate more with their

Adult ego state.