ABSTRACT
Transactional analysis has undergone an important maturation process. During the entire therapeutic plan, the transactional analyst will pay attention to the “sphincter” level, identifying at which sphincter the problems of the patient began. This chapter aims to integrate the philosophy and the model of intersubjective psychoanalysis with the basic principles of transactional psychoanalysis, in particular, its aspect of unconscious communication. The experimental method applied to the psychotherapeutic situation provides for progression through a series of phases: data gathering, hypotheses, verification of the hypotheses, intervention, and feedback. For a thorough and effective understanding of the applications of transactional analysis, it would be useful to explore the following concepts: clinical method, experimental method, methodology, strategy, tactic and therapeutic plan. While much of the initial spirit and almost all of the language of Bernean theory has remained, the methodology has changed profoundly and the clinical areas of intervention have increased.
