chapter FOUR

Transactional Analysis

Jenny Rogers

As a philosophy and therapeutic methodology, Transactional Analysis (TA) was developed in the 1960s and 1970s by Eric Berne, a Canadian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. TA draws on humanistic, psychoanalytic, and cognitive approaches. Berne had huge popular success with his book Games People Play, and such concepts as assertiveness, win-win, I’m OK/You’re OK, and victim-thinking have passed into popular language without people necessarily knowing their origin. TA has been one of the main strands of theory contributing to the development of coaching as a profession.

TA is founded on these assumptions and principles:

  • People are OK. You’re OK and I’m OK. I might not always like what you do, but ...

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