TA 101
You might know from my About page that my core training is in a therapeutic approach called Transactional Analysis (TA).
It’s not obvious from the name what it’s all about, so I thought I’d write a little explainer. In fact, one of the great things about TA is that it uses simple, everyday language to describe the complexities of our inner world and the way we relate to others.
“We learn which feelings we are and are not encouraged to express”
TA was founded by Eric Berne. At its core, TA is based on the observation that we can react to life and other people in a number of different ways at any given time:
In ways that are copied from our parents or parent figures.
In direct response to the here-and-now, using our abilities as an adult.
In ways that we replay from our childhood.
Berne describes these three modes of relating as ‘ego states’ (think of it like a frame of mind), which he named Parent, Adult, and Child.
The PAC model of ego states
TA acknowledges that our early life shapes the development of our view of ourselves, others, and our expectations of life. We might learn these things by observing the people around us, or by being told explicitly how to behave (‘Don’t cry’, ‘Be a good girl’, ‘Life’s not fair’, ‘Work hard’, ‘Don’t make a fuss’). In short: we learn which feelings we are and are not encouraged to express by our family or our culture.
These expectations and beliefs are referred to as our ‘script’ and we think, feel, and behave based on our script beliefs.
The trouble is, some of these script decisions may no longer serve us so well in our adulthood. It’s as though we’re looking at our life through the filter of our script - we accept life as we perceive it through the filter, not realising that it colours the way we live and relate to other people.
“It’s as though we’re looking at our life through a filter”
TA therapy helps us to notice when we are thinking, feeling, or behaving in a way that we have learned from others, or in ways that we did when we were little. Noticing the patterns in our ways of relating helps us to identify the early decisions we have made, which may now be inhibiting us or making life difficult.
TA also gives you and your counsellor a common language to describe how you’re feeling.
There is much more to TA than this whistle-stop explanation will allow! But this is the basis of the theory in a nutshell. I have seen for myself - in my own life and the lives of my clients - how life-changing this therapy can be.
Interested in finding out more?
Please do get in touch if you would like to arrange an initial appointment.
