Notes Of A Counsellor’s Journal ✍️

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a robust and versatile tool in therapeutic practice, offering a structured way to understand and improve interpersonal relationships and self-awareness. As a counsellor, integrating TA into my therapy practice allows me to help clients explore and resolve their internal conflicts and dysfunctional patterns in their interactions with others.

Understanding the Ego States

At the heart of TA is the concept of three ego states: Parent, Adult, and Child. Each represents different aspects of our personality:

Parent: This ego state is shaped by the attitudes, behaviours, and rules internalised from parental figures or authority figures during childhood. It can be nurturing, offering guidance and protection, or critical, enforcing rules and judgments.
Adult: The Adult ego state is rational, objective, and focused on processing information and making decisions based on facts. It is the here-and-now part of the personality that interacts with reality.
Child: The Child ego state embodies the feelings, thoughts, and behaviours from our childhood. It can be free and creative or adaptive, responding to the external environment in a compliant or rebellious way.

In therapy, I guide clients to recognize which ego state they are operating from in different situations. This awareness helps them to understand the roots of their emotions and reactions, and to choose more constructive ways of interacting.

Transactional Patterns and Communication

TA emphasises the importance of transactions, which are the basic units of communication between people. By analysing these transactions, I help clients identify patterns that may be contributing to relational difficulties. For example, a client might consistently engage in Parent-Child transactions, where they take on a parental role, leading others to respond in a childlike manner. This dynamic can create imbalance and conflict in relationships. By becoming aware of these patterns, clients can learn to shift into the Adult ego state, fostering more balanced and effective communication. This shift not only improves relationships but also empowers clients to break free from unhelpful behavioural cycles.

Games People Play

TA also addresses the unconscious games people play in their interactions, often rooted in unresolved childhood conflicts. These games, although maladaptive, serve a psychological payoff, like seeking attention or avoiding intimacy. By identifying and understanding these games, clients can begin to disengage from them, leading to healthier and more authentic relationships. In therapy, I work with clients to uncover the underlying needs or fears driving these games. Through this process, clients can develop healthier ways to meet their needs without resorting to manipulative or self-defeating behaviours.

Life Scripts

Another critical aspect of TA is the concept of life scripts—unconscious life plans formed in childhood based on early experiences and messages received from parents and significant others. These scripts influence how clients view themselves, others, and the world, often leading to self-fulfilling prophecies. I help clients to identify their life scripts and examine how these scripts may be limiting their potential or contributing to their problems. By reworking these scripts, clients can move towards more positive and self-affirming beliefs and behaviours, leading to greater fulfilment and autonomy.

Practical Application in Therapy

In practice, I integrate TA with other therapeutic approaches, tailoring my interventions to the needs of each client. For example, in working with a client struggling with low self-esteem, I might explore their internal Parent-Child dynamics, identifying critical voices that undermine their self-worth. Through role-playing and other experiential techniques, we can challenge and reframe these internal dialogues, fostering a more supportive and compassionate internal Parent. For clients dealing with relationship issues, TA provides a framework to explore how their transactions with others may be contributing to conflict. By shifting to Adult-Adult transactions, clients can improve communication and create more equal and fulfilling relationships.

Empowering Clients

One of the strengths of TA is its accessibility. Clients often find the concepts of ego states, transactions, and life scripts easy to grasp, which empowers them to take an active role in their therapeutic journey. By providing clients with tools and language to understand their behaviour and relationships, TA fosters self-awareness, personal responsibility, and positive change. In conclusion, Transactional Analysis is a powerful approach in my therapy practice, offering clients a clear and practical framework to understand themselves and their interactions with others. Through TA, clients can break free from unhelpful patterns, resolve internal conflicts, and move towards healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Berne, E. (2010) Games people play: the psychology of human relationships. New
edition.
London: Penguin Books. Stewart, I. Joines, V. (2012). TA Today a new introduction to Transactional
analysis. Second edition. Melton Mowbray: Lifespace.