Transactional Analysis Theory and Practice: Other Technical Terms in TA

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Other Terms

In Transactional Analysis

There are some important concepts, ideas and terms in addition to the core concepts.

Discounting: A discount is an intra-psychic mechanism that triggers discounting. Discounting is unawarely ignoring a personal ability, or an endowment or an aspect of reality or reality situation that is relevant to end a situation, solve a problem or structure a response.

Frame of Reference: A reference frame generated by activate ego states which imposes a defining frame on people, reality and situations. A frame of reference free of discounting is a consensual frame of reference. A frame of reference structured by discounting is a scripty frame of reference. This is also another definition of script.

Redefining: It is the mechanism people use to maintain their established view of themselves, others and the world. In doing so people make the world fit their scripty frame of reference. A distortion in perceiving, evaluating, and responding to people and reality situations results. Redefining is accompanied by passive behaviours, redefining transactions, competitive symbiosis and assuming roles on the drama triangle. 

Life Position: Life position is short for basic or existential life position. Possession of attributes such as esteem, worth, value, respect and dignity qualifies one to be OK. Life positions define oneself and others experientially as being OK or Not-OK. Life Positions are mapped in a OK-Grid generating four Life Positions - named healthy, depressive, paranoid and futility positions.

Autonomy: A state or capacity free of internal programming, inhibitions, or compulsions or of external limitations, and compulsions. It manifests upon the release of three capacities - awareness, spontaneity and intimacy. Awareness affords experiencing the world as it is. It also affords being in the here and now, instead of there and then. Spontaneity means the ability to choose from an assortment of options and feelings free of programming. Intimacy means the capacity to express one's thoughts, feelings, opinions and ideas openly, honestly and candidly. (also see autonomy in the section on core concepts > to know click here.

Role: Role refers to one of three scripty roles people adopt in the games they play.  They are Persecutor, Rescuer and Victim roles. People assume these roles when redefining occurs. 

Switch: Switch is a sudden, unplanned, unintended shift in the flow of conversation in the course of game play. It is accompanied by a shift in ego states and a crossed transaction. The shift is usually from  a topic to the other person's qualities or qualifications. The switch is followed by 'crossup'. It is a lull in the conversation which may last from a few minutes to at times years. Parties are engaged in intense mind activity blaming, justifying and planning.

Symbiosis: Symbiosis describes a variety of co-dependency. In symbiosis two persons use each other's complement of ego states in lieu of the ones each has excluded. As a result between two persons only one set of three ego states are available. One variety of symbiosis is 'competitive symbiosis'. People engage in competitive symbiosis when they are redefining.

Time Structuring: Time structuring represents the types of activities people engage in to avoid boredom, monotony and stereotypy. It also helps people to tide over periods of unease when they are forced to spend time in unstructured ways. 

Stamp: It is short for psychological trading stamp. It is a stored away racket feeling waiting to be expressed for a show down.

Passivity: Passivity means inaction. Passivity is displayed when one does nothing, or does something inappropriately, or does something ineffectively.

Passive Behaviours: Passive behaviours are behaviours displayed by persons who have shifted to passivity. Passive behaviours accompany discounting and redefining.

Drivers: Drivers are behaviours which afford a sense of conditional OK-ness. Drivers are also behaviours that signal the effort of people to be free of script ridden-ness. They are functional manifestations of counterscripts.

Injunctions: Injunctions are restraining, restricting, freedom denying and in the extreme debilitating script messages. They over-ride one's capacity and capability to enjoy gifts of nature namely : to exist, to be one self, to be of the sex one is born in, to think, to feel, to express, to succeed, to be important, to be close, to be well, to be sane and similar others.

Martian: Martian is a person who is able to respond spontaneously to behaviours and communications of others without judgement or interpretation.

Earthling: Earthling is a person who responds to behaviours and communications restricted by judgement and interpretation.

Operations and Manoeuvers:   Operation is a transaction or a set of transactions that serve a specific purpose. If one of the parties says one thing and means another thing or the receiver interprets the message differently the operation turns out to be a manoeuvre. Gamy transactions are manoeuvers.

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