ABSTRACT

Eric Berne might not have been expected to bring about a significant new approach to psychotherapy. He had wanted to practice psychoanalysis, and trained at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute. He was in accord with Sigmund Freud that human nature is comprised of interlinked components which affect our behaviour and attitudes. Freud identified three such elements: the id, ego, and super-ego. Perhaps even more importantly, Berne wanted to make psychotherapy more accessible by using concepts and colloquial language that could be understood by everyone, professionals and clients alike. After years of development, he came up with a new approach to psychotherapy, which he called Transactional Analysis, or TA. Berne refined the categories of Parent and Child to reflect the different ways they could be within their ego states. He distinguished the Nurturing Parent, as someone who is concerned with keeping the Child safe and who offers unconditional love and support.