ABSTRACT
The choice of whether to describe a type of transactional analysis (TA) as a school or approach is merely a matter of semantics and is of little consequence. One way of viewing the differences in schools/approaches to TA and how they view the person, their problems and indicated way of working is through taking Martha Stark's framework about the nature of therapeutic action. Although originally developed as a way of conceptualizing different approaches within psychoanalytic therapy, her model can be readily applied to TA where it can highlight the nature of a client's presenting problem, and how the therapist can best facilitate the process of change. Stark's three modes of therapeutic action include one-person psychology, one-and-a-half-person psychology and two-person psychology. Central to a one and a half person approach is either empathically validating the client's subjective reality and emotional experience and/or providing the client with a corrective emotional and/or relational experience.
