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The editor of this series speaks, in the Preface, of the academic fondness for the idea of “the unconscious without Freud.” Transactional Analysis was proposed by its creator, Eric Berne, as “Freud without the unconscious.” London TA specialist Mavis Klein presents a concise and lively exposition in the first British textbook
about the theory and therapy of what she calls “the bastard child of psychoanalysis and operant conditioning.”
Berne's frustration with the slowness of psychoanalytic progress led him to question the “rules” that call for passivity in the analyst and individual treatment as a modality. He felt strongly that patients could be helped to feel and act better first and to resolve their underlying conflicts later. To that end, he developed an elaborate and detailed expositive theory of psychoanalytic ego psychology, focused on the conscious elements of personality. From this came the colloquial language of TA and a systemized approach to therapy.
Language in TA is a central issue. The simplicity of the vocabulary communicates quickly and concisely an array of sophisticated perceptions. The intention is to facilitate rapid communication and understanding, and the modality is group therapy. Patients make contracts in ego state language; have constant reference and access to the therapist's notes; are wholly responsible for their own goals and decisions; and are required to engage their whole egos in the process.
There's much more to this book than theoretical exposition and language translation. Klein has put together an easily deciphered textbook of a relatively new psychotherapy, along with transcripts of a diagnostic interview and a group session, with comments and notes. Four case histories are included.
The roots of TA are clearly mainstream Freudian, with admixtures of Adler, Jung, Rank, and, though Berne never seemed aware of it, B.F. Skinner.