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Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy

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It was only after Dr Eric Berne's Games People Play became in international bestseller in 1964, that transactional analysis, his highly original and innovative approach to psychotherapy, attained wide recognition outside the United States. Over the past forty-five years, however, the principles and practice of 't.a.' have intrigued not only professional therapists but all those who seek to understand human personality and the peculiarities of human relationships.
Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy , the book in which he first laid out the principles of his method, has become a classic in its field and is now available to a new generation of readers.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

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About the author

Eric Berne

39 books703 followers
Eric Berne was a Canadian-born psychiatrist best known as the creator of transactional analysis. Eric was born on May 10, 1910 as Eric Lennard Bernstein in Montreal, Canada.He and his sister Grace, who was five years younger than Eric, were the children of a physician and a writer, David and Sara Gordon Bernstein.David Bernstein died in 1921, and the children were raised by their mother.

Bernstein attended Montreal's McGill University, graduating in 1931 and earning his M.D., C.M. in 1935.While at McGill he wrote for several student newspapers using pseudonyms. He followed graduation with a residency in psychiatry at Yale University, where he studied psychoanalysis under Paul Federn.

In 1943 he changed his legal name to Eric Berne.He continued to use pseudonyms, such as Cyprian St. Cyr ("Cyprian Sincere"), for whimsical articles in the Transactional Analysis Bulletin.

Berne's training was interrupted by World War II and his service in the Army Medical Corps, where he was promoted to the rank of Major. After working at Bushnell Army Hospital in Ogden, Utah, he was discharged in 1945.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
Profile Image for Sara Kamjou.
664 reviews506 followers
February 15, 2019
این کتاب همون‌طور که از اسمش پیداست، در مورد نظریه‌ی تحلیل رفتار متقابل به قلم صاحب نظریه یعنی اریک برنه.
به نظرم کتاب وضعیت آخر خیلی بهتر و ساده‌تر اصول نظریه تحلیل رفتار متقابل رو توضیح داده. گرچه من نسخه‌ی صوتی کتاب رو گوش دادم و باید بعدا مجددا به صورت متنی بخونمش.
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یادگاری از کتاب:
ممکن است در مواردی خاص و سخت، چند ساعت عبوس باشیم یا هفته چند هفته عبوس باشیم ولی نباید ماه‌ها و سال‌ها عبوس باشیم.
Profile Image for Gypsy.
433 reviews702 followers
March 20, 2022

از دورۀ لیسانس می‌خواستم این کتاب رو بخونم ولی خیلی می‌ترسیدم خوشم نیاد و یه چیزی باشه که الکی توی روانشناسی معروف شده باشه. بعد تحقیق کردم و خوندم و گشتم و دیدم نه، خیلی چیز درست و درمونیه. و چقدر خوشم اومد. خیلی لازم داشتم بخونمش.
Profile Image for Mitra.Daal.
58 reviews14 followers
March 7, 2020
تحلیل رفتار متقابل : خیلی از مردم ممکنه این روش روان درمانی رو با صحبت های دکتر‌بابایی‌زاد ‌بشناسند.
چند فصل اولیه کتاب که درباره ی ساختار شخصیت و “حالات من” هست برای همه ی افراد جذاب هست اما فصول بعدی بیشتر برای روان درمانگران و دانشجویان روان شناسی میتونه مفید باشه، ترجمه بسیار عالیه(دکتر فصیح که نیاز به معرفی ندارند)، بسیار روانه و به عنوان یک کتاب روانشناسی که گفتم ممکنه فصول انتهایی اون زیاد برای خوانندگان مختلف(نه فقط روان درمانگران) گیرا نباشه، اما همچنان قابل فهم و درک هست.
روش روان درمانگری TA، این روزها بسیار مورد توجه قرار گرفته و به نظرم خوندن این کتاب برای علاقه‌مندان به روانشناسی و روان‌درمانی مفید هست .
83 reviews21 followers
May 24, 2017
تحلیل رفتار متقابل نظریه نسبتا جدیدی در روانشناسیه که دکتر اریک برن که نویسنده این کتابه معرفیش کرده.
کتاب در سال ۱۹۶۰ نوشته شده و در اون دکتر برن با استفاده از تجربیات روان‌درمانیش به توصیف نظریه پرداخته.
خوندن کتاب برای بار اول چندان سهل و دلنشین نیست٬ ترجمه به نظرم یه مقدار سنگینه و فضای کتاب بیشتر شبیه یک کتاب درسی روانشناسیه تا کتابی برای خودشناسی و مناسب عامه مردم. ولی اصول و مفاهیم اولیه نظریه تحلیل رفتار متقابل(TA) کاملا شرح داده شده و بسیار جالبه.
نویسنده با استناد به جلسات درمانی گروهی و بیمارانی که با این روش به خوبی درمان شدن٬ روش جدیدی در نگاه به ساختار روانی انسان و مشکلات رفتاریش پیشنهاد میده. تحلیل رفتار متقابل بر این اصل تکیه داره که روان هر فرد از سه بخش والد٬ بالغ و کودک تشکیل شده و مشکلات روانی افراد به دلیل ناهماهنگی در این سه بخش وجودیه.
اصل مهم دیگه در این نظریه٬ مفهوم بازی‌هاست که به تبادلات رفتاری آدم‌ها برای رسیدن به یک نتیجه روانی مشخص و ناخودآگاه در ارتباط باهم گفته میشه.
من در زمینه تحلیل رفتار متقابل فقط همین یک کتاب رو خوندم و با اینکه خوندنش آسون نبود ولی خیلی مفید بود.
Profile Image for Astiazh.
178 reviews40 followers
August 26, 2019
این کتاب خیلی جذابه خیلی کمک میکنه به بالغانه رفتار کردن بخصوص که در کنارش صحبتهای آقای دکتر بابایی زاد رو هم بشنوید و لذتش رو ببرید.
سایت حال خوب برنامه های دکتر رو برای دانلود دارن هم صوتی و هم ویدئو
Profile Image for Alireza Khalajzadeh .
11 reviews
April 22, 2019
I found out most people read the book without previous information about “transactional analysis”. It’s been suggested to everyone firstly read the books “I’m ok,you’re ok” and “staying ok” before starting this one. It would give one a better understanding of the theory fundamentals and implementation. Also it would give one much more ease to connect with “games people play” functions.
Profile Image for Vida.
23 reviews
September 12, 2019
برای کامل کردن مجموعه کتاب های وضعیت آخر و ماندن در وضعیت آخر، این کتاب رو هم خوندم ولی با توجه به اینکه نویسنده با کتابای قبلی متفاوت بود، لحن کتاب ثقیل شده بود و توضیحات تا حدی تخصصی و خوندشون برای مخاطب عام که من باشم خیلی لذت بخش نبود. ولی خب برای این جمع
بندی کل مبحث رفتاری کودک والد بالغ خوب بود و از خوندنش پشیمون نیستم.
Profile Image for Mike Zoleski.
20 reviews
October 10, 2012
TOP QUALITY PRESENTATION of how EGO is MASTER, READ this BOOK FREE YOUR MIND.
Profile Image for Michael David.
Author 3 books90 followers
January 1, 2022
I had no expectations when I started reading Games People Play, but found it was a smooth and easy-to-understand breakdown of my interpersonal relationships. While I'm no therapist, I found Berne's transactional analysis theory to be insightful as regards my own thinking and psychology. I used this book to guide other people's introspection and reaction toward reality. This book is a more technical yet equally salient disquisition on the theoretical aspects of transactional analysis. I enjoyed reviewing its concepts and will revisit these time and again to streamline and promote further self-understanding.
Profile Image for Ammar Eslamkhah.
74 reviews6 followers
March 20, 2021
اریک برن و از روی کتاب "بازی ها" شناختم و مجذوب نظریه های جالبش شدم.
در مورد خود کتاب ترجمه شده نکته ای که وجود داره اینه که چرا ناشر اصرار داره که کتاب بازی ها رو هم توش جا بده و تبدیل به یک کتاب کنه؟
و اینکه چرا باید کتاب بازی ها در انتهای نسخه ی ترجمه شده ی تحلیل رفتار متقابل باشه؟
بازی ها مقدمه ی این کتاب حساب می شه. شما باید اول کتاب بازی ها رو بخونید و با نظریه بازی ها آشنا بشید و بعد بتونید تحلیل رفتار متقابل و متوجه بشید.
لازمه این نکته رو هم بگم که من رشته م علوم سیاسی هست و در حوزه ی روانشناسی تخصص ندارم.
اما هر جفت کتاب های اریک برن که خوندم بسیار مفید و کاربردی بودن.
قبل از مطالعه ی این کتاب، نظریه ی بازی ها رو نمی تونستم خیلی راحت برای کسی شرح بدم، هرچند به یک فهم کلی ازش رسیده بودم. با خوندن این کتاب، راحت تر تونستم مفاهیم نظری اریک برن و برای چند نفری شرح بدم و اونها رو برای خوندن کتاب ها تشویق کنم.
در مورد نظریه بازی ها با چند نفر از اساتید روانشناسی صحبت کردم و نظریه غریبی نیست اما نمی دونم توی ایران چقدر در حوزه ی روانشناسی کاربرد داره و توی درمان ها ازش استفاده می شه.
توصیه می کنم حتما کتاب بازی ها رو اول بخونید و به صورت کاربردی هم ازش استفاده کنید
Profile Image for Mohammd mohammadi.
15 reviews5 followers
November 15, 2022
کتاب اریک برن خیلی عالیه ولی اگ کتاب وضعیت آخر رو به جاش بخونید بهتره به نظرم. من هر دو رو خوندم و به نظرم کتاب وضعیت آخر مطلب رو بهتر توضیح داده بود. گویا خود اریک برن هم از این کتاب در مقدمه تعریف کرده. در ادامه هم برید کتاب بازی های خود اریک برن رو بخونید.
Profile Image for Cody Sparks.
12 reviews
November 19, 2025
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS by Eric Berne.

I started reading this book September 10th and just finished today on November 19th, and it’s not an exaggeration to say it feels less like reading a single text and more like entering an entire theoretical system. Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy is not casual reading; it is a primary-source manual for a complete model of personality, communication, and psychopathology. Berne isn’t offering “insightful tips.” He is building a framework in which a therapist can actually diagnose and intervene using observable behavior and structured concepts.

At the foundation of the system are the three ego states: Parent, Adult, and Child. At the simplest level, these are not “roles” but organized systems of feeling, thinking, and behavior, each grounded in a different layer of personal history. The Child represents the preserved recordings of one’s own early experiences: primitive emotions, impulses, fantasies, fears, and pleasures. The Parent is the internalized voice of caregivers and authority figures, carrying rules, prohibitions, judgments, and nurturance. The Adult is the data-processing, reality-testing function that operates in the here-and-now, oriented toward logic, evidence, and problem-solving.

That surface-level description is where most popular summaries of Transactional Analysis stop. Berne, however, spends this book showing that even this “simple” model has depth upon depth.

The first layer is structural analysis: mapping out which ego states are active, when, and how they are organized in a particular person. This allows the therapist to identify, for example, whether someone’s dominant mode of functioning is a harsh Critical Parent, an anxious Adapted Child, a weakened or excluded Adult, and so on. Structural analysis asks: What is the configuration of ego states in this person, and how does that explain their characteristic patterns of feeling and behavior?

From there, Berne moves into second-order structural analysis, which is where the model becomes much more fine-grained. Instead of treating “the Parent” or “the Child” as a single block, he opens them up and examines the ego states within ego states. The Parent, for instance, might contain distinct recordings of different actual people (mother, father, teachers, religious figures), each with their own tone, emotional climate, and typical messages. The Child may contain different age-level strata and separate clusters of experience—joyful spontaneity alongside archaic terror or shame—each activated under different conditions.

Second-order analysis asks: under what specific circumstances does a given sub-part get activated, and why does this particular Child or Parent reaction occur in this context? It’s like going from a rough map of the country to a detailed city grid.

Berne then broadens the lens even more with what can be thought of as advanced structural analysis. Here, the therapist doesn’t just look at the internal structure of the patient’s ego states, but traces these structures back through family history and intergenerational patterns. In effect, the book invites you to analyze the “Parents of the Parent”: to ask which beliefs, anxieties, prejudices, and relational scripts were inherited from parents, grandparents, and previous generations. The ego states are no longer just psychological; they are historical artifacts. This opens the door to understanding how intergenerational trauma and family myths become embedded as seemingly “natural” parts of an individual’s inner life.

One of the most technically important distinctions in the book is between split and contaminated ego states. A split ego state occurs when, for example, the Adult is fully aware that Child or Parent material is present and consciously decides how much weight to give it. The Adult might think, “Part of me feels like a terrified child right now, and part of me hears my father’s critical voice, but the facts of the situation are X and Y, so I will act accordingly.” The influence is acknowledged and integrated through a rational process.

A contaminated ego state, by contrast, is one where the Adult’s thinking is infiltrated by Parent or Child material without the person realizing it. The person believes they are reasoning objectively when in fact they are operating on archaic assumptions, magical thinking, or inherited dogma. Parent contamination shows up as prejudices and rigid, unquestioned beliefs masquerading as “common sense.” Child contamination shows up as irrational fears, wishful thinking, or catastrophic fantasies dressed up as “realistic predictions.” In contamination, the Adult cannot see that its data are corrupted, so the person is using faulty logic to navigate reality.

Much of the therapeutic work described in the book revolves around decontamination: strengthening the Adult so that it can recognize, test, and if necessary reject the intrusions of Parent and Child when they are inappropriate to the present situation.

Having laid all this structural groundwork, Berne then turns to transactional analysis in the strict sense: the study of how these ego states interact between people. A “transaction” is a unit of social exchange. TA examines which ego state in Person A is addressing which ego state in Person B, and which ego states are responding. Adult-to-Adult transactions are ideally rational, direct, and reality-based. But many interactions are Child-to-Parent, Parent-to-Child, or mixed, and this is where conflict, misunderstanding, and emotional explosions arise.

On top of that, Berne distinguishes between overt (social-level) transactions and covert (psychological-level) transactions. A polite surface conversation might be “Adult to Adult” in words, while the real emotional exchange is Parent-to-Child or Child-to-Child underneath. This is where his famous analysis of games comes in: recurring patterns of interaction with a predictable sequence and payoff, in which the psychological level of communication is doing something very different from the social level.

The book describes how people structure time and relationships through rituals, pastimes, activities, games, and intimacy. “Games” are not simply manipulation; they are semi-conscious scripts that allow individuals to obtain familiar emotional payoffs—such as justification, superiority, martyrdom, or self-pity—at the cost of authentic contact. Many of these are rooted in early experiences and reinforced by family and culture. Berne’s taxonomy of games, along with the idea of the “payoff,” provides a powerful lens for understanding why people repeatedly find themselves in the same kinds of unsatisfying interactions, even when they consciously insist they want something different.

All of this culminates in script analysis, one of the most far-reaching aspects of TA. Here, Berne proposes that people live out life scripts—unconscious life plans that have a beginning, middle, and anticipated end, largely formed in childhood out of injunctions (“Don’t feel,” “Don’t be you,” “Don’t be close”), counterinjunctions (“Be perfect,” “Be strong,” “Please me”), early decisions, and family myths. Scripts are the large-scale narratives that organize which games we play, which partners we choose, which “accidents” we repeat, and even how we expect our life to end. In that sense, the book is not merely about moment-to-moment communication, but about how past relational experiences shape an overarching destiny unless brought into awareness and renegotiated.

What makes Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy so demanding is that Berne is doing all of this in one text: building a model of personality (structural analysis), a model of interaction (transactional analysis), a model of repetitive patterns (games), and a model of life narratives (scripts and intergenerational transmission). Each layer is dense and conceptually loaded, and the writing assumes a serious, clinically oriented reader. This is not written as a pop psychology introduction. It is a technical manual, complete with diagnostic criteria, clinical examples, and conceptual distinctions that matter in actual treatment.

The clinical value of the book lies in its insistence on observability and practical use. Ego states are not mystical entities; they are inferred from what people actually say, feel, and do. Transactions can be diagrammed and examined. Contamination can be tested against reality. Games can be mapped out and interrupted. Scripts can be named and challenged. There is a constant pull back toward: “What, specifically, is happening here? Which ego state is speaking to which? What payoff is being sought? What alternative could be negotiated?”

In terms of style, the book is dry in places, occasionally dated in language, and very much a product of its time. But beneath that clinical exterior is a remarkably radical idea: that we can understand ourselves and others through a clear, structured lens that doesn’t reduce everything to vague “personality traits,” but instead to recognizable patterns of internal states and interpersonal exchanges. By the time you reach the end, you are left with an almost unnerving ability to watch your own mind in action—to see your Adult clouded by Child fears or Parent judgments, to recognize when you are stepping into a game, and to trace certain reactions back not just to your parents, but to the parents behind them.

In short, Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy is not a casual read, and it is not for someone looking for motivational slogans. It is a rigorous, dense, and conceptually rich framework for anyone who wants to understand—in a detailed, operational way—how people become who they are, how they relate, and how those patterns might be changed. For therapists, counselors, and serious students of psychology, it is foundational. For lay readers willing to wrestle with its complexity, it offers a way of seeing the mind and relationships that is difficult to unsee once you’ve grasped it.
Profile Image for Nathan Albright.
4,488 reviews155 followers
March 13, 2018
This is an interesting book, if you find psychology interesting [1].  Written by the same fellow who wrote the much less technical and much more popular book Games People Play, this book is a deeply technical look at the way in which the different ego states of people can be discovered and analyzed in multiple degrees.  This book is not for everyone; it tends to attack the legitimacy of moralistic "parental" approaches and as a result misses an important spiritual dimension in mental health, and its language is extremely technical and probably requires at least some background in Freudian psychology to fully grasp, although the basic principles of transactional analsysis are simple enough that even below-average intelligence combined with an intuitive observation of others is good enough to understand the fundamentals of this book, making this a deeply interesting book to read because of the generally humane atttitude of its author.  This author sounds like someone who would be a decent person to know and his approach to group and marital therapy remains highly influential, and there is much to appreciate here for those who are willing to wade through the book's language.

This book is divided into four parts with an appendix at the end that provides a case study of an interrupted but largely successful and complicated example of the author's therapeutic approach.  After a short introduction (1), the first part of the book looks at the psychiatry of the individual and basic structural analysis of the self, looking at the structure of personality (2), the function of personalities within the person (3), various pathologies that result over the course of life (4), the beginnings of those problems (5), the symptoms that tend to accompany mental health problems (6) and the diagnosis of these issues (7).  The second part of the book examines the subject of social psychology and transactional analysis, where the author talks about the stresses of social intercourse (8), the analysis of transactions within a given interaction (9), an analysis of games (10), the subject of the author's more popular book, an analysis of the scripts people use to reduce stress (11), and an analysis of the relationships people find themselves in (12).  The third part of the book gives a look at the author's approach to psychotherapy, with a discussion of the therapy of functional psychoses (13), the therapy of neuroses (14), and a lengthy discussion (filled with interesting transcripts) of group therapy (15).  The fourth and final part of the book contains more advanced and difficult material like a look at the finer and more complicated structure of the personality (16), advanced structural analysis (17), the therapy of marriages with the avoidance of triangulation (18), regression analysis (19), and some closing theoretical and technical considerations to the author's approach (20).

This book is an odd book but a good one.  On the one hand it has an immensely dense technical apparatus springing from the author's background in psychology that will be alienating to many readers who will have to look up quite a few words here even if their basic gist is straightforward enough.  Yet on the other hand the book is written with obvious compassion and a clear understanding that it is not intellectual ability but rather strength of character, sheer tenacity and integrity, and compassion and understanding of one's self and others that is the biggest hindrance between people and psychological health.  This book is written by an essentially honest man for others who believe that being honest about ourselves and honest in our dealings with others is the only way that we can move beyond games to genuine intimacy and friendship with other people.  If that honesty can be difficult to find, this book reminds us that the costs of dishonest dealings with others in order to avoid uncomfortable realities can have a heavy personal cost.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
15 reviews
December 4, 2020
کتابی که قدرت فهمیدن و سپس بخشیدن می‌دهد.

هیچ انسانی ذاتا بد نیست اما در ادامه برای این که او را برای کارهایش ببخشیم، باید بفهمیم.

این کتاب به ما نشان خواهد داد که ...

- چگونه فردی که با ما رابطه عاطفی دارد و دائم پرخاش می‌کند؛ صرفاً یک «کودک» هراسان در وجود خود دارد که از دوست داشته نشدن ترسیده است.

- چگونه پس از تمام شدن رابطه عاطفی به خود یادآور شویم که «کودک»انه در آرزوی لطافتی که از دست رفته، نباشد. «بالغ» خود را قدرت بخشیم که جهان واقع را به یاد آورد.

- چگونه پدر و مادر خود را ببخشیم با فهمیدن این نکته که آنها هم «والد»ی داشته‌اند که «کودک»شان را گاه آزرده کرده‌است.

• کتاب متنی نیمه تخصصی دارد اما فهمیدن تنها ۶۰ درصد آن می‌تواند اثرات بسیار عمیقی داشته باشد.
Profile Image for Anushka Sierra.
290 reviews23 followers
March 12, 2021
Find my reviews at Feminist Quill

While it explains theoretical principles with good substantiation, this book is also a huge turn off for several reasons - the stiff, academic style of writing and archaic use of terminology that has by now been repurposed being two of these. The casual racism and the outdated and problematic approach towards subjects like homosexuality and child sexual abuse are also extremely offputting.

Worth it if you have an academic interest in the subject and are willing to sift past these elements to get to the core ideas put forward by the author. Otherwise, even for non-academic education, there are likely to be more modern books that will repeat the same principles in better language. (I hope.)
Profile Image for Hessam Nadr.
49 reviews4 followers
November 26, 2019
نگارش پیچیده و سنگین
مناسب روانشناسان و دانشجویان این رشته برای تحقیق و رفرنس قراردادن
به افرادی که به تحلیل رفتار متقابل علاقمند هستن خوندن کتاب وضعیت آخر تامس ای هریس رو به جای این کتاب پیشنهاد میکنم
10.5k reviews35 followers
August 22, 2024
BERNE'S FIRST FORMULATION OF THE IDEAS HE MADE POPULAR LATER

Eric Berne (1910-1970; born as Eric Bernstein, he changed his name in 1943) was a Canadian-born psychiatrist, who wrote many popular (even "trendy," in the 1960s) books such as 'A Layman's Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis,' 'Structure and Dynamics of Organizations and Groups,' 'Games People Play, 'Principles of Group Treatment,' etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1961 book, "This book outlines a unified system of individual and social psychiatry as it has been taught during the past five years at the Group Therapy Seminar at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco [etc.]... This approach is now being used by therapists and group workers in various institutional settings, as well as in private practice, to deal with almost every type of mental, emotional, and characterological disturbance. The growing interest in and wider dissemination of its principles have indicated a need for this book." (Pg. 11)

He says in the Introduction, "An ego state may be described phenomenologically as a coherent system of feelings related to a given subject, and operationally as a set of coherent behavior patterns; or pragmatically, as a system of feelings which motivates a related set of behavior patterns." (Pg. 17) He adds, "Colloquially, these types of ego states are referred to as Parent, Adult, and Child... Certain repetitive sets of social maneuvers appear to combine both defensive and gratificatory functions. Such maneuvers are colloquially called pastimes and games... More complex operations are based on an extensive unconscious life plan which is called a 'script,' after the theatrical scripts which are intuitive derivatives of these psychological dramas. These three terms 'pastime,' 'game,' and 'script,' form the vocabulary of transactional analysis." (Pg. 23)

He asserts, "In structural terms, a 'happy' person is one in whom important aspects of the Parent, the Adult, and the Child are syntonic with each other." (Pg. 57) He explains, "The Parent is the guide for ethical aspirations... the Adult is concerned with the earthly realities of objective living; and the Child is a purgatory, and sometimes a hell, for archaic tendencies." (Pg. 60) He suggests, "Transactional analysis is best done in therapy groups." (Pg. 90) He states, "a game can be defined transactionally as a set of ulterior transactions... with a concealed motivation... a series of moves with a snare or 'gimmick.'" (Pg. 104)

Later, he advises, "The trichotomy [Parent, Adult, Child] must be taken quite literally. It is just as if each patient were three different people. Until the therapist can perceive it this way, he is not ready to use this system effectively." (Pg. 235) He summarizes, "It is quite possible that the personality structure so far given might be adequate for a therapeutic lifetime, just as it served the writer well during the first phase of clinical formulation of these ideas." (Pg. 191)

Berne later presented this material in a much more "popular" style in 'Games People Play,' but this earlier, more "clinical" presentation provides great insight into his ideas during their development.
Profile Image for Vincze Andrada.
249 reviews36 followers
September 2, 2019
“Din punct de vedere existențial, o discuție pentru trecerea timpului este un mod de a evita vinovăția, disperarea sau intimitatea, un mecanism furnizat de natură sau cultură pentru a calma disperarea mută. Într-un mod mai optimist, ar fi ceva de care te bucuri doar de dragul său sau cel puțin un mijloc de socializare în speranța împlinirii mult doritei fuziuni cu o altă ființă umană. În orice caz, fiecare participant o utilizează, într-un mod oportunist, pentru a obține din aceasta beneficii primare și secundare”
Profile Image for Kateřina Valová.
206 reviews6 followers
August 26, 2023
Základy, kořeny a východiska transakční analýzy - kontext, který je pro pochopení celého tohoto psychoterapeutického směru dost zásadní a stojí za to překousnout i to, že je psaný dosti složitě a těžko stravitelně. Užitečné taky k tomu uvědomit si, co je z TA Bernův základ a co přidali a transformovali jeho následovníci.
Cíl TA podle Berna - aby mohl Dospělý zachovat kontrolu nad osobností člověka ve stresových situacích (ne aby byl aktivní pouze Dospělý); aby to byl Dospělý, kdo rozhoduje, který stav bude "u moci".
168 reviews6 followers
December 12, 2019
What a fascinating system of therapy. I wish he had gone more into structural analysis...although I believe he has another book that does, I also wish he had cleaned up his terminlogy...the whole neopsyche, exteropsyche bs doesn't do the theory any favours. However, his theory, case studies, and development of therapeutic knowledge definitely brings a new lens to my own framework and is helpful articulation of his form of therapy.
Profile Image for Paℓe mooŋ.
280 reviews7 followers
March 23, 2023
تحلیل رفتار متقابل (TA) یکی از کاربردی‌ترین و در عین حال ساده‌ترین مکاتب روانشناسیه. این کتاب هم کتاب مبدأشه و توسط خود اریک برن نوشته شده. خوندنش اندکی سخت بود، چون ترجمه‌ی آقای فصیح خیلی ثقیله. اما اگر بتونی این موضوع رو تحمل کنی، چیزهای خیلی جالبی یاد می‌گیری که قطعا توی زندگی شخصی هم به دردت خواهد خورد.
(برای خوندنش باید تا حدودی با نظریه‌ی فروید هم آشنایی داشته باشید)

https://taaghche.com/book/48658
Profile Image for Alireza .
1 review4 followers
April 16, 2018
Very interesting read and my first attempt to understand the psychology science.
Explores a new framework of analyzing oneself trough acts and plays in games which are package of social transactions, Which could bring you closer to foundation which you've learned to act upon in different psychological states.
Profile Image for Gratiela.
118 reviews
July 11, 2022
Deși nu sunt străină de noțiunile de psihologie, această incursiune în noțiunile de bază ale psihoterapiei tranzacționale a fost destul de greu de parcurs și de urmărit, n-aș putea spune că m-a lămurit în ce constă la modul de a putea folosi tehnici din aceasta abordare în munca mea psihoterapeutică. Voi reveni la ea.
Profile Image for Logan Streondj.
Author 2 books15 followers
September 25, 2021
It's a good book, mostly deals with distinguishing parent, child and adult archetypes within the cognitive space of the human psyche. Has various psychotherapy approaches for singles and groups. Good companion book to "games people play".
Profile Image for Siavash Karbassi.
19 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2022
اوایل ترجمه کتاب کمی گیج کننده و آزار دهنده اس ولی کم کم به اصطلاحات به کار رفته عادت می کنیم. در مجموع کتاب و مبحث بسیار جالبیه ولی خب مثل تمام کتاب های حوزه روانشناسی به نظر من باید با احتیاط این کتاب ها رو خوند.
14 reviews
February 11, 2023
If you need help and are thinking of seeing a psychologist, psychiatrist, or psychotherapist, this book is for you. If you have an injury or illness and want to work on it, it's good to know how to ask the right questions. Communication is the key. This book tells and provides many examples from the practice of Eric and his clients. Maybe you will find yourself in these examples or your relatives and friends.
But all the same, when you read Berne's books, there is a feeling of the last century.
98 reviews
April 1, 2023
این کتاب نظریه رفتار متقابل رو توضیح میده اگر به روانشناسی علاقه دارید خوندن این کتاب رو از دست ندید. کتاب های وضعیت آخر و ماندن در وضعیت آخر کنار این کتاب یک مجوعه خوب هستند


میتونید کتاب رو اینجا پیدا کنید
https://taaghche.com/book/48658
Profile Image for Xosé Carreira.
21 reviews
April 3, 2023
It is an easy, simple and relatively rigorous book to understand the keys to good communication and good relationships. It is easier to understand and apply the proposed trio parent, adult & child than superego, ego & id. In general, I love transactional analysis as a general coaching approach.

12 reviews
May 19, 2023
Genius model, so helpful to think about what maybe happening in interactions between people; the unspoken and unconscious drivers. Very technical language at times makes it brain-achingly hard work but the examples bring it all into life.
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