ABSTRACT
From the beginning, transactional analysis (TA) has placed emphasis on using accessible language to demystify the therapy process and to promote a collaborative use of shared theoretical language. This use of shared language combined with the active use of psycho educational methods is a unique and distinctive feature of TA. The theory of life positions by Berne and Ernst is frequently the starting point for transactional analysts in understanding depression. In Steiner's theory of stroke deprivation, the individual with depression has a powerful set of stroke economy rules, which limit the seeking of and experiencing of positive strokes. Within TA theory, depression may be seen to be a repetitive and maladaptive coping strategy. Although a number of depressive symptoms and processes can be understood using TA concepts of structural analysis, several TA writers have used the functional model to understand the process of a person with depression.
