Introducing transactional analysis

WHAT IS TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS (TA)?

Transactional analysis is a modern psychotherapeutic direction, it is also a theory of personality and a theory of communication. Its founder is the American psychiatrist and psychotherapist Eric Berne (1910-1970). The name transactional analysis comes from the concept of transaction – that is, the exchange of messages between two people. Since a transaction is a unit of communication, transactional analysis is actually an analysis of communication.

The basic assumptions of transactional analysis are that we are all OK people, that everyone has the ability to think, to make decisions about their lives, and that they can change those decisions.

The client's role in therapy is equal, as the counselor introduces him to the ideas of transactional analysis and encourages him to take an equal role in the process of change. As a personality theory, TA shows us the psychological structure of a person. It uses a three-part model called the ego state model. This model also helps us understand how people function and express personality through behavior.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS

1. WE ARE OKAY PEOPLE.

If we follow this philosophy, we accept ourselves as we are and others as they are. We may not like or approve of something someone does, but we still accept them as human beings. We do not put ourselves in the position of being better or worse than others.

2. EVERY PERSON IS ABLE TO THINK.

Each individual is responsible for deciding how they want to spend their life, and they must live with that decision.

3. WE, PEOPLE, DECIDE OUR OWN DESTINY, AND OUR DECISIONS CAN BE CURRENT

WE ALSO CHANGE LIVES.

During childhood, we learn to use certain strategies that represent the best possible solutions for survival at a given moment and in a given environment. As adults, we often still resort to these strategies, even though they often turn out to be inappropriate and do not help us solve problems. That is why it is important to be aware that we can change our decisions at any time and choose a different way of solving problems than we used in the past.

ABOUT SAŠA HORVAT, our transactional analysis contractor

A graduate economist by primary education, I found my true calling through a combination of circumstances.

mission in helping people who need someone they can lean on and who don't

condemns, but rather helps them on the path to personal change that will lead them to

fulfilling their potential.

At one point, I was having a lot of problems with my identity and generally wasn't very happy with my life. A friend, a psychiatrist by profession, referred me to his friend, a psychotherapist.

Realizing that you need help is the first step to improving the quality of your life. Deciding to go to therapy can be stressful, and it took me a while to actually sign up for therapy. Looking back today, it was one of the best decisions of my life, as I not only improved the quality of my life, but by sticking with it, I also found my calling.

When the topic of conversation turns to psychotherapy or counseling, people often ask me why they would pay to talk to someone when they could go for coffee with a friend and confess to her, or call their mom and talk to her about their problems.

Psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counseling are much more than just sitting on the couch and discussing problems with friends or your mother, from whom you usually expect comfort and help in solving problems.

The counseling process is a serious undertaking that we decide to undertake because we want to achieve personal change; it is a process that can be difficult and painful, as some things are difficult to admit even to ourselves, let alone say them out loud to someone else. In this process, the solution to your problems is not brought to you on a platter, but you have to reach it yourself with the help of a counselor, and in this way you learn to solve problems independently and constructively in the future. It is time invested in yourself, which is never wasted.

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WHY SPEAK TO A COUNSELOR?

• He accepts me as I am,

• He doesn't take my behavior personally,

• He listens to me without imposing his solutions on me,

• He can be with me in pain and not try to fix everything right away,

• He makes suggestions, but doesn't force me, let me consider them,

• He is attentive to both verbal and non-verbal communication – words, body language, silence, energy,

• He tells me the truth, holds up a mirror but doesn't judge me,

• His presence is calming, stable, strong, comforting.

SAŠA HELPS YOU WITH:

• solving everyday problems,

• making important life decisions,

• problems that arise in relationships (partner, family, job),

• problems with parenting and upbringing,

• problems with poor self-esteem,

• getting to know yourself and your desires,

• management of transient and moderate depressive-anxiety disorders,

• overcoming obstacles to normal and satisfied functioning in life.

HOW IS IT ALL GOING?

Counseling is conducted in such a way that at the beginning of the treatment, we clearly define the client's problem and together we set the goals that we want to achieve through counseling. The client's role in the counseling process is to reveal their thoughts and feelings through conversation, and in this way to actively deal with themselves and their problems. In doing so, I support them in various ways in thinking about themselves and exploring the problem. In this way, the client can relieve emotional distress and also gain new insights about their actions and the problem they want to solve.

Because I believe that trust and well-being are key to good results, I often share with clients my stories and experiences from areas where they are experiencing problems and where it may be difficult for them to share their story with a stranger, right at the beginning of the counseling process.

Of course we are. I think that makes it easier for them to open up, too, because they feel like I understand them and don't judge them, and they can also find at least part of the solution for themselves in how I solved my problem.