30 Transactional Analysis-II

DR.Geeta Sachdev

1. Learning Objectives:

Basic objectives of this module are:

To understand the meaning of Script Analysis To understand the concept of Game Analysis To understand the concept of Strokes

To understand the concept of Life Positions To know the Four types of Life Positions

2. Introduction

Script analysis or life script is one of the analyses in Transaction Analysis. It is an inner plan that governs the direction of one’s life. We generate stories about our lives, what they have been and what they will be. It begins in childhood where we make our perceptions about ourselves and of the world around us into a narrative about what we can and will do.

These life scripts then carry on having a deep and insentient influence on how we live our lives. They affect the decision what we make. They regulate what we contemplate we can effortlessly do and can never do. They form our self-image. And yet we rarely understand where they come from or even do not know that they occur at all.

These life scripts are frequently stimulated and formed by parents and other family members, whose life scripts were moulded by their parents and so on. In this manner, we become a product of our family’s history. Similarly, our scripts are also interlaced by cultural and national forces.

There are frequently general shapes to life scripts that can be stated very easily, for example ‘I am a loser’ or ‘I must support save the world’. Life scripts can be very comprehensive and they can be very unclear. They can be very authorising, yet they can also strictly limit our lives. As humans, we generate stories to help make sense of the world. These stories run through time like our lives. We put ourselves in the place of the central character or other players, feeling what it may be like. And the greatest story for each of us is the story of our lives. We continually re-tell ourselves about what has happened to us, rerunning the internal video and assigning good and bad roles to the numerous players in our lives. We also project into the future, speculating what might be.

Life scripts are not all the identical as they may also be significantly affected by individual events, such as being disparaged by a teacher or intimidated by other children. These also are controlled by hereditary characteristics. For example it would be rare (but not impossible) for a shorter person to embrace being a basketball player in their life script.

And beneath all this, often unrealized, is the great story that we made up long ago. These life scripts form our opinions and activities and the stories we tell ourselves. If one’s life script does not hold being a doctor then he will never think about such a career or wish he could be one.

Script messages can come from:

Modelling: Noticeable ways adults and peers perform.

Attributions: Being told ‘you’re just like…’

Suggestions: Clues and inspiration such as ‘Always do your best’.

Injunctions: Demands to do or not do things.

3. Concept of Game Analysis:

Berne defined a game as a continuing series of ulterior transactions that lead to an expectable result. Ulterior transactions are intricate interactions that include more than two ego states and send a masked message. In other words, we are playing a game if we are trying to achieve something other than what we are externally expressing.

Game analysis is the act of perceiving and understanding what games are played, what the end fallouts will be and how these games interfere with a person’s relationships. Some vital game variables are:

How many players are involved The elasticity of the game

The objective of the game The role of each player

The advantages of playing the game

Games are used to defend a person’s decisions, and therefore, game analysis is an important part of understanding our interpersonal relationships

Example of Game Analysis:

This game has two players viz. Player 1 and Player 2.

Player 1 desires to lose some weight and states this to Player 2. Player 2 would recommend, ‘You can join a gym.’ And Player 1 would state, ‘Yes, but I can’t pay for a gym membership.’

Next Player 2 would advise something like, ‘You could eat healthier meals.’ And Player 1 would reply, ‘Yes, but I don’t have time to cook those kinds of meals.’

Next Player 2 might recommend, ‘You could begin jogging around your neighbourhood in the evening.’ And Player 1 would answer, ‘Yes, but my neighbourhood isn’t safe.’

It will endure until Player 2 runs out of propositions. At this point Player 1 is the winner because he has effectively evaded all of Player 2’s propositions. His final objective was to evade having to lose weight even though he claims he desires to do so.

A game is an acquainted formation of behaviour with a predictable outcome. Games are played outside Adult cognizance& they are our supreme effort to obtain our needs met – though of course we don’t. These are learned patterns of behaviour, &maximum persons play a minor number of favoured games with variability of different persons& in changing intensities.

First Degree games are played in social circles generally lead to small affronts not major turbulences.

Second Degree games occur when the dangers might be higher. It usually occurs in more close circles, and finishes up with an even superior adverse payoff.

Third Degree games comprise tissue damage &might end up in the prison, hospital or mortuary. Chris Davidson (2002) has claimed that world politics can include fourth degree games -where the results cover entire communities, countries or even the world.

Games vary in the span of time that passes when they are being played. Some could take seconds or minutes whereas others take weeks months or even years.

Reasons to play Games:

To structure time, to gain strokes, to maintain the substitute feeling & the system of thinking, principles and actions that go with it, to commend parental commands & further the life script, to reserve the individual’s life position by “verifying” that self/others are not OK, to convey a high level of stroke exchange whereas blocking intimacy &preserving distance, to make people expectable.

4.Methods to deal with games:

There are many methods to stop a game, containing the use of various choices than the one automatically used. These are as:

Cross the transaction by responding from a different ego state than the one the stimulus is planned to hook.

Choose the concealed instead of the social message e.g. when an individual says “I can’t do this, I’m useless”. Instead of saying “let me do this for you” rather say “It appears that you have a difficulty. What do you want me to do about it?” (said from the Adult ego state)

The main message to the game always includes a discount. There are further discounts at every phase of the game. By observing discounts we can identify game invitations &solve them with choices. (A discount is when we decrease, increase or overlook some facet of a problem which would support us in resolving it. Like saying in a loud voice “This is too problematic for me to do”, so we automatically help them).

Replace the game strokes. Loss of strokes to the Child ego state means a risk to existence. We acquire a great numerous strokes from games, even if they are negative. Though, if we don’t get sufficient positive strokes, or give ourselves positive strokes, we will go for quantity rather than quality of strokes and play games to obtain them. This loss of strokes is also a loss of excitement that the game has produced.

5. Concept of Strokes

Berne explicated a stroke as the “fundamental unit of social action.” It is a unit of appreciation, when one individual identifies another individual either verbally or non-verbally. Berne publicized the idea of strokes into Transactional Analysis grounded upon the work of Rene Spitz, a researcher who did founding work in the area of child development. Spitz perceived that infants deprived of handling – in other words, not getting any strokes – were more inclined to emotional & physical problems. These infants lacked the fondling, touching, &handling that most other infants gained.

Berne took Spitz’s observations of these infants &established theories about the requirements of adults for strokes. Berne recommended that adults need physical contact just as infants, but have learned to substitute other kinds of recognition in the place of physical stimulus. So whereas an infant needs cuddling, an adult wants a smile, a sparkle, a hand gesture, or other type of salutation. Berne demarcated the term recognition-hunger as this prerequisite of adults to gain strokes.

Berne also expressed that any stroke, whether it is positive or negative, is better than no strokes at all. For instance, if we are walking in front of our home& we see our neighbour, we will likely grin & say “Hi.” Our neighbour will possibly say “hello” back. It is an example of a positive stroke. Our neighbour can also glare at us & say nothing. It is an example of a negative stroke. However either case is better than no stroke at all.

6. Concept of Life Positions

On the basis of transactions and scripts, children cultivate life positions that condense their concepts of self-worth and the worth of others.

Life positions are basic views about self & others, which are used to protect decisions &behaviour. Decisions about oneself, one’s world, & one’s relationships to others are conserved during the first 5 years of life. Such decisions are elementary for the preparation of a life position.

Transactional Analysis describes three apparent ego-states (Parent, Adult, and Child) as the foundation for the content & quality of interpersonal communication. “Happy childhood” nonetheless, says Harris, many of us are living out the not ok feelings of a powerless child, dependent on ok others (parents) for stroking & caring. At some phase initially in our lives we accept a “position” about ourselves & others that controls how we sense about the whole thing we do. And for a enormous of the population, that position is “I’m Not OK — you’re OK.” This negative “life position,” pooled by successful & unsuccessful persons alike, pollutes our rational Adult capabilities, leaving us vulnerable to inappropriate emotional reactions of our Child & uncritically learned behaviour programmed into our Parent. By discovering the structure of our personalities & considering old decisions, Harris considers that we can discover the liberty to alter our lives.

7. Explanation of Four life positions

In the procedure of developing an identity, people describe for themselves, early in life, what the meaning of their life or existence is. Some people decide they are OK and are going to have a good life; but many others choose they are not OK and will flop in some way. That anticipation based on a decision of how life will be is their existential position. People can feel OK or not OK about themselves and others so that there are four main life positions:

I’m Not OK, You’re OK

I’m Not OK, You’re Not OK

I’m OK, You’re Not OK

I’m OK, You’re OK

7.1 I’m OK—you’re OK position is generally game-free. It is the faith that persons have basic value, worth, &self-respect as human beings. That people are OK is a proclamation of their spirit, not surely their behaviour. This position is characterized by an attitude of conviction and candidness, a willingness to give & take, and a consent of others as they are. Persons are close to themselves & to others. There are no losers, only winners.

7.2 I’m OK—you’re not OK is the position of individuals who allocate their glitches onto others &blame them, put them down & criticize them. The games that reinforce this position include a self-styled superior (the “I’m OK”) who projects exasperation, hatred, and disrespect onto a designated inferior, or scapegoat (the “You’re not OK”). This position is that of the individual who needs an underdog to maintain his or her sense of “OKness.”

7.3 I’m not OK—you’re OK is recognised as the discouraging position & is characterized by feeling destitute in comparison with others. Usually such type of individuals serve others’ needs instead of their own &regularly feel overloaded. Games associating this position contain “Kick me” and “Martyr”—games that support the power of others& disagree one’s own.

7.4 I’m not OK—you’re not OK position is recognised as the position of hopelessness& frustration. Working from this place, persons have lost interest in life &might perceive life as totally without promise. In this situation person perceive the whole world as useless and hope less. This self-destructive position is characteristic of individuals who are incapable to cope up in the real world, and it might lead to dangerous exclusion, a reoccurrence to childish behaviour, or ferocious behaviour resultant in injury. An extreme condition of this state can lead towards suicide or death of themselves or others.

In reality each of us has a preferred position we actuate from under stress. The challenge is to become conscious of how we are attempting to make life real through our basic life existential position &produce an alternative. Associated to the notion of elementary psychological positions is the life script, or plan for life. An individual life script is an unconscious life plan prepared in childhood, strengthened by the parents, “justified” by succeeding events, and winding-up in a chosen substitute (Stewart & Joines, 1987). This script, as we have seen, is established primary in life as an outcome of parental teaching (like injunctions &counter injunctions) and the early decisions we make. Amongst these decisions is selecting the elementary psychological position, or dramatic role, that we play in our life script. Indubitably life scripts are comparable to a dramatic stage production, with a cast list of characters, a plot, scenes, dialogues, &infinite practises. In quintessence, the life script is a plan that tells individuals where they are going in life & what they will do when they attain. As per Berne (1972), through our primary communications with parents & others we get a pattern of strokes that might be either supportive or disapproving. Grounded on this stroking pattern, we make a basic existential choice about ourselves; that is, we assume one of the four life positions just demarcated. This existential choice is then strengthened by messages (both verbal & nonverbal) that we endure to obtain during our lifetime. It is also strengthened by the outcomes of our games, rackets, &explanations of events. During our childhood years we also make the choice whether people are trustworthy.

Our basic confidence system is thus shaped through this process of determining about ourselves & others. If we hope to alter the life course that we are wandering, it supports to understand the constituents of this script, which to a great extent control our patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Our basic belief system is thus formed through this procedure of deciding about ourselves and others. If we hope to change the life course that we are travelling, it helps to understand the constituents of this script, which to a large extent determine our patterns of thinking, feeling, & behaving.

8. Summary

Transactional analysis is based on the supposition that we make existing decisions based on past premises—premises that were at one time suitable to our survival needs but that may no longer are usable. TA emphasizes the reasoning, rational, and behavioural aspects of the therapeutic process. More exactly it emphasizes the capability of the individual to modify decisions &is apprehensive with toward increasing consciousness with the goal of permitting individuals to make new choices& thus modify their presence. To achieve this goal, TA clients learn how to ascertain the three ego states (Parent, Adult, and Child) in which they function. They also learn how their existing behaviour is affected by the rules they received &assimilated as children & how they can ascertain the life script that decides their actions. Initial in life every one of us fashions a script that we carry out, generally without consciousness.

Transactional Analysis is designed to prop up personal growth and change; it gives the opportunity to develop all kinds of easy to learn skills that can be applied to all areas of life. It makes the therapy precious for helping to resolve a lot of types of problems, and it has been productively applied in wide variety of settings outside of counselling, including organisational training and consultancy, parenting, education and coaching.

Essentially transactional analysis can be used in any field where there is a need for understanding of individuals, communication and relationships. As a result, it is particularly useful where there are issues of conflict, confusion or where something is lacking. Relationship issues – between families, friends and couples – tend to benefit greatly, as TA encourages clients to address problems that have built up over time. Berne believed everyone has the capacity to decide what they want for their lives, and the therapy helps clients to recognise their worth and value in order to go about achieving these goals.

References:-

• I never knew I had a choice by Corey, G., & Corey, M. S. (2006). Belmont, CA: Thomson
• Brooks/Cole, 8th Edition.
• The elements of managed care: A guide for helping professionals by Davis, S. R., & Meier, S. T. (2001). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
• Injunctions, decisions and redecisions. by Goulding, R. and Goulding, M. (1976). Transactional Analysis Journal, 6, 1, 41-48.
• TA Today: A New Introduction to Transactional Analysis by Stewart & Joines, 1987) is a comprehensive text on transactional analysis theory.
• What do you say after you say hello by Berne, E. (1972). New York: Grove Press.
• Scripts People Live: Transactional Analysis of Life Scripts by Claude Steiner. (1990). New York: Grove Press.
• http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/ok_not-ok.htm
• http://study.com/academy/lesson/transactional-analysis-theory-strokes-and-the-stroke-economy.html
• http://www.transactional-analysis.info/Positions/Positions.php
• http://www.clairenewton.co.za/my-articles/transactional-analysis-part-iii-the-scripts-we-follow.html