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Transactional Analysis
Elizabeth Hendry
Have you sometimes found yourself wondering why you sound just like your mother/father?
Do you have problems with certain people and wish you understood what was really going on?
Would you like new insights into how to go about problem solving, learn to negotiate better or to stop those repetitive processes that you wish you could get out of?
You would probably find Transactional Analysis (TA) very useful.
TA describes the unhealthy processes that we learned as children, either from our parents, families and teachers, or that we decided on for ourselves. By definition, these processes take place out of awareness. This means that you do not realise that you are doing it and you may very well even be certain that you don’t.
TA is not a therapeutic treatment, it is an analytical tool that helps you to understand what is going on underneath the behaviours that we see or do. When my children were young, they often brought school fellows home for help and advice about how to deal with their problems. I almost always found that there was a TA concept that they found easy to take in and that helped them to understand their situation better. I used to draw them a diagram, which they would carefully take away, or come back for if they forgot it.
For explanations of some of the TA concepts, click here
Transactional Analysts use TA to help them identify interpersonal problems. Because these processes are carried on out of awareness, the simple fact of bringing them into awareness often causes an improvement. If this is not enough, then they have to use some other therapeutic process to help their customers to work through the issues.
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