Transactional Analysis: the theory proposed by Eric Berne

Transactional analysis is a humanistic theory of personality, human relations, and communication. that is applied in psychotherapy, personal growth, education and even the field of organizations.

Initially, it was a form of psychotherapy founded between the 50s and 60s by the physician and psychiatrist Eric Berne, an innovative and creative thinker who united ideas from other currents (psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, phenomenology, etc.), but this theoretical and practical body is still valid today and is applied in a multitude of contexts.

Who was Eric Berne?

Eric Leonard Bernstein, better known as Eric Berne, is the father of Transactional Analysis. He was born in Canada in 1910 and passed away in 1970. He was the son of a Polish doctor who died of tuberculosis when Eric was just a child. Berne decided to follow the path of his father and, after receiving his doctorate in Medicine in 1935, in 1936 he began his career as psychiatrist at the Yale University School of Medicine Psychiatric Clinic, where he worked for two years.

A few years later he would begin his studies in psychoanalysis with Paul Federn, one of the first disciples of Sigmund Freud. After his time in various health centers and after serving in the US army as a psychiatrist, in 1946, when decided to live in California, continued his psychoanalytic training with Erik Erikson.

• Related article: "Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development"

Understanding the concept of Transactional Analysis

But Berne, despite respecting his origins as a psychoanalyst, did not agree with certain ideas that this model promoted and, after the publication of various articles and books, he developed his own model of "social psychiatry". His works were authentic best sellers, always written with a simple vocabulary allowing the understanding of both professionals and clients. For Berne, communication and knowledge are to a large extent the solution of problems emotional, and focuses his approach on social relationships, where the transaction is the unit basic.

Eric Berne himself explains in his book “The games in which we participate” that: “The unit of social relation is the transaction. If two people find each other... sooner or later one of the two will speak, she will give some indication or show appreciation for her presence. This is known as a transaction stimulus. The other person will then say or do something that is related to the stimulus, and that is called a transactional response.

Eric Berne's model was gaining popularity, and he decided to found the ITAA (International Association for Transactional Analysis) with the mission of delving into certain concepts of transactional analysis and providing different developments within the theory. This institution is still in force today to ensure therapeutic and educational quality in the different centers where transactional analysis is practiced.

An integrative approach

Transactional analysis, due to its multifaceted nature, is best described as an integrative approach.. Unlike an eclectic approach, in which the practitioner selects the most appropriate ideas or techniques from a wide variety of theories or models, the integrative approach finds a point of union between different models, unified in a new model or theory.

Within transactional analysis there are different schools, for example. the classic or the cathexis. As a practitioner integrates the concepts of transactional analysis, he chooses a school that fits his way of being or doing. therapy, or moves through the different approaches within this same theory, so that it is about finding a way that best suits the cases treated. Somehow, it starts from a theoretical and practical base and goes on to some variants, as usually happens with psychoanalysts.

Starting from psychoanalysis

In fact, Berne's integrative approach was born thanks to the fact that he, influenced by psychoanalysis, thought that Freudian theory focused all his efforts on the past, which was in a therapeutic practice that left aside the "here and now", forgetting aspects that are so beneficial for therapy such as concentration on the conscious (although it is also unconscious).

To make it, combined ideas and techniques from classical psychoanalysis with ideas from humanism or behaviorism. The new theory did not focus so much on introspection into the past, but on the present, the context interpersonal or self-actualization and personal growth came alive in his new way of doing therapy.

Transactions and ego states

One of the great achievements of transactional analysis is that it proposes a methodology and concepts expressed in simple language and without technical terms, and in turn facilitates techniques for change staff.

Psychological transactions are analyzed through ego states, other than those proposed by Freud. There are three ego states: Parent, Adult, and Child.

• Father: One speaks and thinks with the patterns learned from an authority figure in childhood. It is a copy of childhood.
• Adult: State more rational and realistic
• Child: It is the most impulsive and spontaneous state.

A transactional analyst will develop a diagram in which it will be possible to appreciate the ego states that are manifested in a transaction. For example, an Adult-Adult transaction may occur when a surgeon is operating and glances at the nurse for the work tool to be brought to him. This one approaches it, producing a complementary transaction, where the gesture of looking would be the stimulus of the transaction and the delivery of the tool the transaction response. The communication will be fluid while the complementary transactions continue.

But unfortunately, not all interactions are complementary and therefore some are dysfunctional, which Berne called a cross transaction. For example, in a couple relationship, one of the members, in this case the woman, asks the other member if she has seen her glasses. And the other member, in this case the man, replies: "You always blame me for everything!" The man, instead of responding with the "Adult" ego, responds impulsively, that is, with the "Child" ego, and here a conflict or dysfunctional communication occurs.

Objectives of Transactional Analysis

Transactional analysis is a decisional model of personality that helps to understand the relationship with others. and with ourselves. It allows us to feel and become aware of who we are and what we need and want. Likewise, it empowers us in the face of change and allows us to have autonomy and initiative in our own personal development.

The objectives of transactional analysis are basically three: awareness, spontaneity and privacy:

• Being aware is being able to distinguish what is real from what is fantasy. It is self-knowledge.
• Spontaneity is related to the expression of thoughts, feelings, emotions and needs of oneself.
• Intimacy is the ability to open up to the other, to be authentic and close.

Legacy

Transactional analysis is a popular theory, although its effectiveness is questioned due to the lack of studies scientists that demonstrate its effectiveness (partly, this is because part of psychoanalysis and its epistemology). Today, it is still possible to train not only in therapy, but also there are master's degrees focused on other fields of application, for example, in Transactional Coaching for Organizations.

Below are some of the most important aspects of this theory. Transactional analysis focuses on:

• The relationships, in all its forms: with oneself and with others.
• The belief that profound change It happens through experience.
• It is a theory of communication that analyzes the different forms of interaction: between individuals, couples, families, organizations, etc.
• Allows you to analyze and understand irrational beliefs, impulsive behaviors, prejudices, illusions...
• It is a method of individual and group therapy, and intervenes on cognitive, affective, relational, psychological, behavioral and personality parameters.
• The intern is an active participant in their work You can be a neutral observer, and the same goes for the client.