ABSTRACT
The ‘Three Ps’ of potency, protection and permission are central to the practice of effective and ethical transactional analysis (TA) psychotherapy. Having discussed client protection in Point 82, the author focuses on potency and permission. The potency of the therapist lies in the capacity to contain despair, uncertainty, doubt, meaninglessness, hatred, rage, shame and anxiety, both within the therapist and their clients. Potency also includes the therapist's sense of emotional and psychological resilience. Potency relates to the therapist's ability to provide sufficient intensity and strength in the therapy for the client to disobey Parental injunctions and scripting. At its most basic level, permission in therapy involves the therapist creating an atmosphere in which it is OK to say the unsayable, give voice to fears, shameful thoughts, fantasies and deeds, to express oneself and to be real. Permission is an interesting concept, and one which, in my view, needs careful consideration.
