Eric Berne became famous throughout the world of psychotherapy and psychology due to his theory of how people communicate with each other and how they relate to themselves and others. Eric Berne's transactional analysis has been studied by many psychologists who agreed that a person lives life really according to the script that was laid down in childhood. Many words of parents lay the stereotype and determine the quality of his life and communication. What is transactional analysis as a method of psychotherapy? What is its essence and benefit for a person?

What is Eric Berne's Transactional Analysis Theory?

It is considered to be which reflects the analysis of behavior and interaction of a person in a group and within oneself. This theory has gained great popularity due to the availability of concepts and the explanation of human behavioral responses.

The main postulate here is that in certain circumstances a person can act depending on which of the three I-positions he takes. Bern Erik was the first to draw attention to these positions. Transactional analysis originates from psychoanalysis, therefore it considers and studies the deep aspects of the human psyche.

For psychotherapy important point The application of this theory is the assertion that each person can learn to think and be responsible for his actions, trust, first of all, feelings and needs, make decisions and build personal relationships. From this position, the theory of Eric Berne is a very effective method of helping a person in solving life's problems.

Positions in transactions

In this theory, easy to understand are the three ego states: Parent, Child, Adult. Each of them is significantly different from the other, having a set of behavioral characteristics, thinking and feelings.

It is very important for a psychotherapist to understand the state in which a person acts in one way or another, and what can be changed in his behavior so that he can be a harmonious person, about which Bern Erik spoke. Transactional analysis suggests three basic rules about these ego states:

  • Any person of any age was once small, so they can do something under the influence of the Child ego-state.
  • Everyone (with a normally developed brain) is endowed with the ability to make adequate decisions and evaluate reality, which indicates that he has an Adult ego-state.
  • We all had parents or persons replacing them, therefore we have given beginning, expressed in the Parent ego-state.

At the heart of psychotherapy using transactional analysis is helping a person to become aware of unproductive stereotypical behavior. The analysis of transactions, which takes place with the help of a specialist, helps a person become more productive in finding solutions, in understanding reality, in setting further goals.

Types of transactions in psychotherapy

Any interactions between people, verbal or non-verbal, are called transactions in the theory that Berne Eric brought out. Transactional analysis within psychotherapy involves the study of human relationships, as well as the search for solutions to emerging problems.

It is important for the specialist to determine which schemes led to difficulties in the relationship. There are two types of verbal and non-verbal interactions:

  • parallel;
  • cross.

Parallel modes of interaction

The psychotherapist, working with the client, determines what type of transaction was used. Parallel is a constructive type of relationship. In this case, the ego positions must match. For example, a transaction asking "How are you?" and the answer "All is well!" produced from the perspective of an adult. In this case, no interaction problems arise.

Cross transactions

Crosstalk can provoke conflicts. This is such an interaction in which an unexpected reaction occurs to a stimulus (question or appeal) from the position of another ego state. For example, the question "Where is my watch?" and the answer "Where you left it, get it there!" - transaction from positions of the Adult and the Parent. In this case, a conflict may develop.

There are also hidden transactions (at the psychological and social levels). In this case, it is important to analyze the incentives of people communicating with each other.

Stimuli in communication

Approval is essential for personal development. This is one of the basic human needs. In transactional analysis theory, this approval or stimulus is called "stroking." Such moments in communication can carry a positive or negative connotation. "Strokes" are unconditional (just for the fact that a person exists) and conditional (given for actions). The latter are just colored by emotions with a "+" or "-" sign.

In therapeutic practice, a specialist teaches a person to accept such stimuli or not to do so, especially when they are negative. It is also not always appropriate to accept positive conditional "strokes", since a person learns to be "good", that is, he tries to please everyone, while infringing on himself.

It is also important to teach the client to refuse the conditions that are put forward with a positive stimulus if they do not correspond to the internal positions of the person, which Berne Erik especially emphasized. Transactional analysis helps the client to focus on creating the necessary conditions for him, where he can discover new powers for making decisions and so on. In therapeutic contact, a psychologist must teach a person to accept himself, then the consultation will be successful.

Honest and dishonest transactions

The next point in the study of transactions as a method of therapy is the analysis of the interactions that determine the pastime of the individual. This phenomenon was called the structuring of time by Eric Berne. Psychoanalysis tends to view it from a slightly different angle: from the standpoint of defense mechanisms.

There are six ways to structure time:

  • care (manipulative way of influencing a person);
  • games (a series of hidden transactions that also "dishonestly" manipulate people);
  • intimacy (sexual interactions);
  • rituals (transactions due to stereotypes and external factors);
  • entertainment (achieving certain goals for oneself);
  • activities (receiving influences from others and achieving their goals).

The last three are called "honest" because they do not manipulate others. The therapist during the conversation helps to build positive transactions without manipulative behavior. Games are an influence on people's behavior. We'll talk about them below.

Life scenarios of people

Each person lives according to a script given in childhood, Eric Berne argued. The psychology of people's life scenarios directly depends on the positions adopted in childhood.

  1. The winner is a person who has achieved goals, involving others in the struggle. In the course of therapy, such people reconsider their life positions and manipulative games, trying to build productive transactions without negatively affecting others.
  2. Defeated - a person who constantly experiences failures, involving others in his troubles. Psychotherapy is very important for such people. In the process of conversation and analysis of transactions, such people understand the reasons for their failures in life. Clients learn to respond to problems correctly, not to involve others in them, to try to get out of constant problems.
  3. "Non-winner" - a loyal person who fulfills all his duties, trying not to strain the people around him. Understanding his life scenario in the process of psychotherapy, such a person makes certain decisions depending on needs and goals.

All scripts (read more about them in the book written by Eric Berne - "The Psychology of Human Relations, or Games People Play") we get as a result of parental programming in early childhood. First, adopting them non-verbally, then with the help of verbal messages. They are forced out of consciousness over the course of life, so a person may not even guess what dictates his behavior. Therefore, with problems relating to life scenarios or conflict interactions, it is important to turn to a psychotherapist who knows the theory of transactional analysis thoroughly.

One of the most significant books by psychologist Eric Berne is Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy, which allows you to look at human behavior from a different perspective. Initially, Eric Berne relied on the work of Sigmund Freud, but in his research he went a little further, and his ideas are somewhat different, he himself highlights these points. Although many parallels can be drawn. We can say that this is a view of different people on the same processes, and both points of view have the right to exist.

The theory of transactional analysis is widely known and applied by many psychologists. It is more accessible for understanding to an unprepared person, in some ways even more practical and illustrative than the theory of Sigmund Freud. Eric Berne talks about how the human Ego can be in one of three states: Child, Adult and Parent. Each of these states has striking distinctive features. If you look closely at a person, you can immediately see what state he is in. The Child is more emotional, the Adult is more reasonable, and the Parent is the bearer of attitudes and moral norms. The book describes each of these states in detail. The author gives many examples from his practice.

Knowledge of transactional analysis will allow a person to understand the state of himself and his interlocutor. This makes it possible to make communication more efficient. The book provides options for transactions that can be parallel or intersecting. It is analyzed in detail in which cases the goal of communication will be achieved, and in which not. Thus, with the help of this book, you can manage your states, as well as find mutual language with other people, focusing on the state in which they are.

On our website you can download the book "Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy" by Bern Eric for free and without registration in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format, read the book online or buy the book in the online store.

Eric Lennard Berne is an American psychiatrist, a follower of psychoanalysis, the author of the theory of transactional analysis. His most famous books are Games People Play, People Play Games, Introduction to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis for the Uninitiated.

A person is a kind of energy system that is filled with a lot of tension and is trying to find a state of rest. Tension is an out-of-balance energy that manifests itself in feelings of dejection and anxiety. This feeling appears due to the constant need of a person to relieve tension and restore lost balance. Needs accompanied by tension are called desires. The task of the psychologist is to recognize the desires of a person and help him relieve the existing tension.

The main problem of a person, according to E. Bern, is that he very often has to attribute the process of stress relief. It happens that he simply does not know where and how to do it. Satisfaction of some tensions induces in a person the emergence of new, sometimes stronger tensions. A person is a living energy system, therefore the main task of a person remains to satisfy desires, relieve the stresses caused by desires, and this should be done in such a way as not to conflict with other people, the environment and, most importantly, with oneself.

At every moment of his life, a person strives to relieve the strongest of the existing tensions, wants to satisfy the strongest of desires. Any desire that has been satisfied brings him closer to his cherished goal - to a sense of security, peace, and complete freedom from anxiety. Anxiety is a sign of tension, it decreases as the energy balance is restored. The anxiety is not caused by the event itself, but by the thought that the event may interfere with the prospect of satisfying his desires. No desire - no anxiety.

People think they are getting closer to safety, but what they are really looking for is a sense of security. Life cannot be completely safe. The feeling of security is the result of what is happening inside our psyche, this state does not reflect the events taking place in the outside world. As a rule, fears of external causes decrease as we realize that they can be dealt with, that they are only a temporary threat to achieving our goal.

The human problem is the same as that of any power system: to find the path of least resistance to discharge the voltage. A battery in an electrical circuit finds its way in a fraction of a second, a person can take years to do this. Man is able to delay discharge indefinitely because he can store energy within the psyche. At the same time, nature and the surrounding people are always regarded as obstacles to satisfying one's desires and relieving the tension that arises. The more correctly a person evaluates the world around him and the people inhabiting it, the faster and better he gets the satisfaction of his desires.

By observing spontaneous social activity (in the setting of a psychotherapeutic group), Burn found that from time to time people show very noticeable changes in their behavior - in their general state, style of speech, intonation and emotions. These behavioral manifestations are often accompanied by emotional shifts. The emerging behavioral pattern is consistent with a certain mental state, while another pattern corresponds to a different mental state than the first. These changes and differences led Burne to the idea of ​​the existence of ego states.

The very idea of ​​"ego-states" should be treated with special attention. This is a very strong and completely non-trivial idea. After all, Berne actually states that, contrary to one of the basic assumptions of almost all humanistic psychology, - that a person is not single and holistic: behavior and the corresponding physiological, emotional and mental states of a person systematically change in such a way that this indicates plurality rather than unity. Here is how Berne himself writes about it: “Observations on spontaneous social activity ... reveal that from time to time different aspects of people's behavior (poses, voice, points of view, colloquial vocabulary, etc.) change markedly” . Behavioral changes are usually accompanied by emotional ones. Each person has his own set of behavioral patterns correlated with a certain state of his consciousness. And with another mental state, often incompatible with the first, another set of schemas is associated. These differences and changes lead us to think that there are different ego states.

In the language of psychology, ego states can be described as a system of feelings, defined as a set of coherent behavior patterns. Apparently, each person has a certain, most often limited, repertoire of ego states, which are not roles, but psychological reality. From the passage quoted, it can be understood that ego states are even more real than the so-called "personality", and determine not only psychological, but to some extent social reality. It is easy to feel how much this contradicts most psychological theories and how much it differs from the ideas of common sense: from the point of view of the latter, each of us is one, single person who is “obviously” defined, on the one hand, by his physical body, on the other hand, by his passport (driver's license, bank account, etc., that is, the "social body").

In fact, Berne (although, of course, not only he) argues that “in fact” (that is, in psychological “reality”) it is not that a person is not one. And it is meaningless to ask when he is (and ever is) "himself": in one ego-state he is one thing, and in another - another. . In professional language, ego states can be described as follows: phenomenologically - as a system of feelings and operationally - as behavioral patterns. In simpler terms, they can be defined as a system of feelings associated with certain behavioral patterns. Each person has a limited repertoire of such ego states, which are not roles but psychological reality. This repertoire can be described in the following categories:

1. Ego-state, similar to the state of the parent figure;

  • 2. Ego-state, independent in nature and aimed at an objective assessment of reality;
  • 3. An ego state still active from its fixation in early childhood, which is an archaic survival.

Informally, the manifestations of these ego states are called Parent,

Adult and Child. At each moment of time in the process of social interaction, a person is in one of the three ego states and has the ability to move from one to another, but each person has a different degree of readiness for the transition.

Following this point of view, a structural scheme was created that reflects the structure of the personality of any person and includes all of the above ego-states. It should be noted that the Parent can manifest itself in two ways - directly or indirectly: as an active ego state or as the influence of the Parent. In the first case, he imitates one of the parents, in the second he adapts to their requirements.

In the same way, the Child can manifest itself in two forms: as an adaptive Child (modifies its behavior according to the expectations of parents) and a natural Child (spontaneously expresses itself, for example, by rebelling or creating).

Each ego-state has its own way of perceiving, analyzing the information received and reacting to reality. It should be remembered that each type of ego state has its own vital value for the organism. According to Bern, each of these components carries both positive and negative sides behavior regulation.

The parent (similar to the "superego" in the Freudian personality structure) acts as the bearer of social norms and prescriptions that a person uncritically learns in childhood (mainly under the influence of his own real parents), as well as throughout his life. The parent finds himself in such manifestations as control, prohibitions, ideal requirements, etc. He also regulates the established automated forms of behavior, eliminating the need to calculate each step. The negative aspect of the functioning of the Parent is determined by the dogmatism, inflexibility of dictated prescriptions.

The child acts as a carrier of biological needs and basic human sensations. It also contains affective complexes associated with early childhood impressions and experiences. Its positive qualities are spontaneity, creativity, intuition; negative - lack of voluntary regulation of behavior, uncontrolled activity.

The Adult is the most rational component, functioning relatively independently, albeit using information that is embedded in the Parent and the Child. An adult personifies competence, independence, a realistic probabilistic assessment of situations.

The formation of a mature personality is connected, according to Berne, mainly with the formation of a fully functioning Adult. Deviations in this process are determined by the predominance of one of the other two ego-states, which leads to inadequate behavior and distortion of a person's attitude.

Accordingly, psychotherapy should be aimed at establishing a balance of the three named components and strengthening the role of the Adult.

The theory of Eric Berne refers to the interpersonal, the main concept of which is the game. A game there is a succession of additional hidden interactions moving towards a certain predictable outcome. It can be described as a series of interactions, often repetitive, seemingly innocent, but with an ulterior motive.

Simply put, it is a series of moves with a trap or "trick". Games are distinctly distinguished by procedures, rituals, and entertainment by two main features:

  • 1) hidden character;
  • 2) the presence of remuneration. Procedures may be successful, rituals may be effective, entertainment may be useful, but they are all, by definition, honest; they may include competition but not conflict; their ending may be sensational, but not dramatic. On the contrary, any game is inherently unfair; its outcome has a dramatic character, essentially different from simple excitement.

Below is E. Berne 's scheme for the theoretical analysis of games .

Thesis. This is - general description games, including the external sequence of events (social level) and information about their psychological basis, evolution and meaning (psychological level).

Antithesis. The suggestion that some sequence constitutes a game remains conjectural until it is confirmed existentially. Such confirmation is carried out by refusing to play or not paying the reward. Then the subject makes more vigorous efforts to continue it. Faced with a relentless refusal to play, or a successful non-payment, he sinks into a state called "despair," which in some respects resembles depression but is different in essential respects. This state is sharper and contains elements of frustration and confusion; it can manifest itself, for example, in the form of confused crying. In a successful therapeutic situation, it may soon be replaced by laughter, indicating the Adult's statement: "Here you are again on your feet!" Thus, despair is the concern of the Adult, while depression is the Child in control. The opposite of depression is optimism, enthusiasm, a keen interest in the environment; despair is the opposite of laughter. Hence the pleasure of therapeutic game analysis.

Target. It's just the general purpose of the game. Sometimes there are alternatives.

Roles. As already pointed out, ego states are not roles but real phenomena. Therefore, the distinction between ego states and roles must be established by a formal description, depending on the number of roles, games with two, three and many players are distinguished. Sometimes the state of a given player's ego matches his role, sometimes not.

Dynamics. By establishing the driving psychodynamic forces behind each instance of play, we are confronted with alternatives. Usually, however, it is possible to find a single psychodynamic concept that allows a precise and meaningful designation of the situation.

Transactional analysis is an independent area of ​​psychological theory and practice. Psychotherapy, developed by Bern, is designed to free a person from the influence of scenarios that program his life, through their awareness, through opposing them with immediacy, spontaneity, intimacy and sincerity in interpersonal relationships through the development of intelligent and independent behavior. The ultimate goal of transactional analysis is to achieve personal harmony through a balanced relationship between all ego states. Unlike psychoanalysis, which is carried out individually over a long period of time, transactional analysis involves group therapy sessions that provide a fairly quick positive effect.

» Transactional Analysis

Transactional Analysis by Eric Berne (1910-1970)

Eric Berne is the author of the famous triad "Parent - Adult - Child" in the structure of the psyche. He is also known for the concepts of "life scenario" and "psychological game". His transactional (or transactional) analysis is a theory of personality and social behavior. It is widely used as a method of psychotherapy and claims to be an instrument of wider social change.

The phrase "transactional analysis" literally means "analysis of interactions." It contains two psychological ideas: a) the multiplicative (multilevel) nature of communication; b) division of the communication process into elementary components and analysis of these elements of interaction.

As a psychological current and direction of psychotherapy, he gained popularity in the 1960s with the appearance of two books that became bestsellers. (E. Bern. "Games that people play. People who play games", T. Harris "I'm fine - you're fine").

Transactional analysis is based on dynamic principles and has as its subject interpersonal behavior. He explains the problem of neurosis in the spirit of rationality and in this way distinguishes himself from cognitive therapy.

According to this trend in psychology, certain states of the ego are responsible for the behavior of the individual. These states, or selves, determine the ways that a person uses in his transactions - the basic units of social interaction. Each person behaves in relation to others or how Child(an impatient and infantile emotional being overwhelmed by communication), or as Parent(disposition and belief, which is acquired through the perception of attitudes from parents), or as Adult having independence of judgment (mature and rational ego).

The state of the ego "Parent":

Behavior, thoughts and feelings copied from parents or parent image. The parent demands, evaluates, condemns or approves, teaches, directs, patronizes.

The state of the ego "Adult":

Behaviors, thoughts and feelings that are direct responses to the here and now. An adult shows prudence, logically works with information.

Ego state "Child":

Behavior, thoughts and feelings come from childhood. The child demonstrates infantilism, selfishness, helplessness, a state of submission.

Although the three states of the ego are at the unconscious level, in transactional analysis the therapist deals with phenomena that are at the conscious level and points out ways in which the patient and the community with which he is dealing would be successful in their communications, attractive in " cross transactions.

The therapist also recognizes many psychological "games" in which the real value interactions. Patients play inalienable roles, learning to recognize what their self is in transactions with others (and with the therapist). Under the guidance of the therapist, they learn to use their Child for jokes, but have their Adult as a guarantee of their serious behavior. Eric Berne came out in his postulates primarily from Freudian psychoanalysis, as well as from the works Penfield and Federna, who studied the influence of past impressions on the future behavior of the individual. For its study, the methodology of structural analysis and the transactional approach are used.

As Berne himself noted, in his conclusions he relies on clinical observations, experience of working with patients who had upset integral states of the "I". This was to reveal a number of fundamental questions in psychology and psychiatry. In particular, we are talking about the presence in the patient's personality of "archaic elements" and the possibility of teaching the patient structural and transactional analysis. Both the doctor and the patient can stop at any time, take stock and plan what should be done at the next stage. During psychotherapeutic procedures, the archaic states of the "I", fixed as a result of trauma, are differentiated, but still persist. Under the influence of the reality factor, the patient moves into a situation favorable for resolving archaic conflicts.

Revealing the terminology of structural analysis, Eric Berne essentially sets out the system of his teaching. Exteropsyche, neopsyche and archaeopsyche are considered by him as mental mechanisms (organs, tools), which turn out phenomenologically as exteropsychic (for example, identification), neopsychic (for example, data processing) and archeopsychic (for example, regressive) states of the "I". These typical states are respectively called "Parent", "Adult" and "Child". Berne also adds "pastime", "play" and "script" to the vocabulary of transactional analysis. These are not abstractions, but working social realities.

Berne formulates such a hypothesis. In the personality of an adult, the remnants of the "I" of the child are preserved, which come to life under certain conditions. This phenomenon can be observed during hypnosis, psychosis, medical or direct electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex. Berne suggests that these traces can appear in a person even in a normal mental state.

A typical situation shows one state of "I", adequate for a given real situation, and the corresponding adequate judgment. Along with this, another process is observed, which is determined, in particular, by megalomania, archaic fears and hopes. That is, in the same situation, the behavior of an adult and a child appears in a person. The doctor's intervention helps to make the transition to a new state: all behavior, awareness of reality, facial expressions, voice, muscle tone, manners begin to correspond to the "I" of an adult. This gives a brief sedation in psychosis. Therefore, Berne defines psychosis as the flow of psychic energy from the adult system to the child one, and its treatment as a movement in the opposite direction.

In psychosis, when the patient suffers from hallucinations, he hears the words of his parents, who offer him to do this and that. Parent, Adult and Child are real persons who enter the patient's environment and have certain names, occupations, etc. For successful treatment, one should, in particular, separate the Adult from the Child, and transfer the study of the Parent to the next stage of treatment. The patient should also be convinced that Child, Adult and Parent are terms that reflect the phenomena of reality. It is possible to show as a Child a person who stole chewing gum, but this does not mean that this particular individual stole chewing gum in childhood.

Sliding into another state of "I" in sick and healthy people, Eric Berne explains the concept of psychic energy, or substitution of power: at some point, the state of "I", which is replaced, has executive power. This, however, is the same as explaining the action of a magnet by magnetic force. For psychotherapeutic practice, this is apparently enough, but we are talking about a conceptual consideration in which Berne ignored the nature of the combination in the psyche of new and old experience.

Berne confines himself only to stating that the "I" constitutes a kind of entity, as if separating from the rest of the mental content that existed many years or a minute ago, or at the same time. That is, each state of "I" has a purpose that separates it from other states. Then, of course, the question arises: what kind of state of "I" should be considered real?

However, instead of a scientific solution to this problem, Berne slips into the world of metaphors, where you can feel good (like in the world of poetry), but not one iota budge in revealing the true patterns. It is worth taking a closer look at the style of the author himself: “In this system, slipping from one state of “I” to another is due to three forces that act on each state, the insight of the boundaries between different states and the scope of the powers of each state of “I”. No comment: Bern is critical of Freudian description of "psychic energy" and "empowerment". But he himself is hardly moving forward: the main conceptual scheme is missing. The states of "I" are separated, but the phenomenology of their connection has not been elucidated.

The mystery of the coexistence of the past, future and present in one soul must be revealed in the concepts of mental development. But the very idea of ​​development was lost to Bern. He did not elucidate the contradictions of the previous layer of the psychic in order to show the need for the emergence of the next layer. In the psyche, indeed, what was somehow formed, included in the interaction with the world, on the one hand, has a stereotype to remain "forever" in its structure. On the other hand, this structure is exposed to the influence of subsequent structures and receives a certain color from them, while at the same time influencing the following structures. There are certain integration layers of the mental, which include all the events of human life. Integration is also subordination, which leads to unity. When such unity is violated, the subordinate becomes autonomous in its meaning, and a split personality sets in - either in a motivational struggle, or in pathological complications.

Central to transactional analysis is a practice known as stroking-reception,- the process of stimulating and facilitating the cognitive acts of other people. Patterns of techniques form a common theme in the main subsections of transaction analysis.

Personal structure appears in the relationship of parents, adults and children. These terms do not act in their general sense, they only designate "I-states", connected systems of external behavior and internal processes. They are formed in the process of human development. Parental "I-state" is based on the establishment of restrictions, prohibitions and feeding, which is an expression of the basic functions of parents. The adult contains within himself the reality of verification and the possibility of probabilistic calculation. The child is an expression of feelings, creativity or adaptations that come from experience. Transactional Analysis offers methods for achieving a balance of energy between "Self-states" that should be important for the well-being of an individual, family or organization.

Communication is defined by Berne as a series of stimuli and responses from "I-states". Transactional analysis pays special attention to those stimuli and responses that occur at the psychological level, which are always non-verbal and unconscious for the subjects - participants in communication.

Graphically, transactional analysis looks like this: each communication partner is depicted as a set of all three of his positions: P, V, D (top to bottom), and the transaction is depicted as an arrow going from the chosen position of one interlocutor to the intended position of the other.

Various types of transactions are distinguished: “from above” and “from below”, on an equal footing, parallel and intersecting, constructive and conflict-prone, etc. For example, “from above” (an address from the Parent of one partner to the Child of the other) is the desire to dominate, outwardly manifested as teachings, condemnation, advice, reprimand, remarks, arrogant and patronizing intonations, a pat on the shoulder, the desire to take a higher place, views from above down and more. etc. From the bottom (from the Child to the Parent) - looks like a request, an apology, fawning, etc. On an equal footing (В-В) - the desire for cooperation, information exchange, etc.

There are hidden transactions (shown in dotted lines in the figure), and we can assume that they determine the real result of mental change. Stimuli and responses are extremely powerful means that people use to influence each other.

Games - the most original concept in transactional analysis - are formed under the condition of regular use of hidden transactions, which give grounds to find out the factors of "wins" and "losses" of each of the participants in the situation. Players exit the psychological roles of "Pursuer", "Savior" or "Defeated". They can range from mild annoyance to dangerous criminal behavior and cover most daily activity of the individual.

Feeling analysis focuses on the repertoire of anger, fear, sadness, and joy, or complex feelings such as guilt, pain, sadness, or envy, made up of two or more of the basic four feelings.

Life scenario analysis includes the identification of plans and attitudes created in early childhood under parental influence and aimed at the most important aspects of life. According to Berne, a script is a psychological impulse that pushes a person forward with great force, forcing him to act in a certain way, and very often regardless of his desire or free choice. It consists in the emergence of myths from messages received regarding one’s own self and the world around, and are included in the main categories of “winner”, “success, “lost”, which are tolerant, but unsatisfactory, “lost”, which presents problems of different levels.

Negative life scenarios must be recognized and transformed in accordance with a realistic and more correct worldview.

Changing the scenario, the transition from one to another has the following character:

  • the situation is comprehended as a set of meanings in its new vision;
  • new motives arise that overcome and call to the cherished goal;
  • an action is realized through which a person enters a new “I-state”;
  • reflection works - an active philosophy of life.

Romenets V.A., Manokha I.P. History of psychology of the XX century. - Kyiv, Lybid, 2003.