Transactional Analysis Theory and Practice: Core Concepts

This blog comes from Ajit Karve, Transformational TA Coach
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Core Concepts of TA Theory

Six core concepts form the vocabulary of TA. They are explained here:

Ego States: Ego States are psychological entities. Their activation manifests as coherent sets of thinking, feeling and related behaviour patterns. They are not abstract ideas or theoretical constructs. They represent real people, people who once existed or exist now. They have legal names and civic identities. They are building blocks used to model personality.

Definition: An Ego State is defined as a consistent pattern of feeling and experience*, directly related to a corresponding pattern of behaviour.

*Experience is accompanied by emotion and related meaning.

Berne describes ego states in three ways: phenomenologically as a coherent system of feelings related to a given subject; operationally as a set of coherent behaviour patterns; and pragmatically as a system of feelings which motivates a related set of behaviours.

Click here > Meanings of Ego State to know about psychological, social and clinical meanings of ego state. 

Transactions:  Transactions are units of social 'intercourse'. Two persons, when they come in contact will sooner or later release a sign to recognise the presence of the other person. People engage in interactions with others because they benefit from them. Such interactions are called transactions. They aid communication and recognition, and also promote social action. 

Definition: Transactions are defined as units of social intercourse. They aid exchange of strokes.

A transactional stimulus and a related transactional response, verbal or non-verbal, makes a transaction. Transactions are vectors. The stimulus and response originate in an ego state in one person and is directed toward an ego state in the other person. 

Strokes: Strokes represent an infant's need for touch. Infants deprived of handling for long durations of time show signs of neural degeneration. The condition is called hospitalism.  In adults strokes manifest as looking, listening, touching and their related variations.

Definition: Stroke is a unit of recognition. It is also a fundamental unit of social action.

Game: Games are unhealthy interpersonal dynamics that aid generation of unpleasant, if not hurting, painful outcomes called payoffs. People engage in games unawarely. They form an easy means to obtain strokes of one's choice.

Definition: Games are sets of ulterior transactions, repetitive in nature, with a switch and a crossup, resulting in a well defined psychological payoff. Berne's Formula 'G' defines a game.

Con + Gimmick > Response > Switch > Crossup > Payoff

Racket: (1) Rackets are acts and behaviours habitually used by people to unawarely engage and manipulate other people to gain their attention and to generate their favourite racket feelings. (2) Racket feelings are inauthentic feelings. They are feelings and emotions people frequently use in lieu of authentic feelings in their failed attempts to end situations and solve problems. Racket feelings are  learned in one's childhood because they were encouraged by parents and caretakers in preference to authentic feelings which when expressed were discouraged or rejected. (3) Refraining from expressing feeling is also a racket. (4) Feelings of anger, hate, dislike, sorrow, hurt, pain, guilt, inadequacy, confusion, and the like are rackets. Mental occupations, be they of thoughts, feelings, emotions, or of recalls that one gets locked in over durations of time are also rackets.

Script: Script is short for life script. Script is a name for the intra-psychic mechanism, which when it becomes operative, structures a person's perception, evaluation, assessment and response to reality in service of a psycho-cybernetic life goal. The person then loses executive power to be in charge of his mental faculties and responses.

Definition: Script is a self authored life plan, written in childhood, reinforced by parents, justified by subsequent events, and culminating in the script payoff.  

Script is structured by limiting beliefs one acquires in childhood. They are taken for real, though they are mythical and imaginary. These are beliefs about oneself, about others and about quality of life entitlements. They constitute 'decisions'. These decisions structure the way they live their lives. They choose a life plan mostly based on fairy tales and similar other childhood stories which tally closely with their prevailing life situations.

Autonomy: It is the capacity to evaluate, assess and respond to here-now reality, free of the influence of script beliefs or the dictates of a punitive internal Parent. Autonomy means being able to bring the mind where I am and  into what I am doing. It is being able to assess the outcomes of various courses of action. It means being able to choose the most suitable response that is sane, safe, effective and appropriate. It means the ability to express one's own thoughts, opinions, views and feelings candidly, openly and honestly. This without feeling restrained or without going overboard.  

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