Transactional analysis was born as a psychological therapy between the 50s and 60s. It was then when the doctor and psychiatrist Eric Bernewith a psychoanalytic training, developed this theory, framed within humanistic psychology, to shape a new, more effective psychotherapy.
Although its roots are psychoanalytic, transactional analysis breaks with the classical Freudian approach and focuses its interest on the psychological interactions between people (transactions) and not in the internal psychic dynamics of individuals.
In fact, it constituted a great contribution to the study and treatment of personality, communication and human relationships, since it managed to offer a different integrative alternative by uniting postulates from other currents such as psychoanalysis, cognitive-behavioral or phenomenology.
Little by little the theoretical body of transactional analysis expanded and its influence went beyond psychotherapy. Today we find it in other areas such as education, personal growth and that of organizations.
What are the three ego states for transactional analysis?
One of the main axes of this theory are the three ego states, which define the personality of the human being and are understood as “specific ways of feeling, thinking and acting.”
According to the principles of transactional analysis, people relate to our peers assuming a position of Parent, Adult or Child (PAN). These three ego states, different from psychoanalytic ones, are present in all human beings.
Father
It condenses all the norms, values, ideas, prejudices and beliefs that, during childhood, parents have heard. It becomes a reproduction of the father figure’s way of seeing the world.
There is a “natural father”, linked to care, protection and guidance; and a “programmed father,” who is associated with the exercise of power and authoritarianism, rigid and punishing.
Adult
This is the most rational, analytical state, with a predominance of reason, based on each person’s own experiences and adapted to current reality. It is characterized by self-control and self-determination. According to transactional analysis, it is the only one of the three states that shows the person as they are.
Child
It is the most basic state, characterized by fantasies, the irrational and the primary impulses that took root in our personality from early childhood. The emotional, impulsive and spontaneous predominate over the rational.
As with the adult, there is a “natural child”, which corresponds to what was previously described; and another “programmed child” which is defined as a child who was not allowed to express himself, repressed, shy, fearful and introverted.
How are the three ego states regulated in a healthy way?
The ideal regulation of the three ego states is that which the adult ego state exercises over the other two, that is, that in which the adult controls and moderates the rest of the states, allowing them to express themselves when and as appropriate. In this way, the person can achieve psychological well-being.
The three states are necessary for our emotional balance. He transactional analysis It can help you identify the predominant ego states in your personality and regulate them. The key is to adapt and modulate them depending on each context.
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