Transactions are the flow of communication, and more specifically the unspoken psychological flow of communication that runs in parallel. Transactions occur simultaneously at both explicit and psychological levels. Example: sweet caring voice with sarcastic intent. To read the real communication requires both surface and non-verbal reading. Strokes are the recognition, attention or responsiveness that one [...]

A simple, reciprocal transaction occurs when both partners are addressing the ego state the other is in. These are also called complementary transactions. Example 1 A:  “Have you been able to write the report?” B:  “Yes – I’m about to email it to you.”  —- (This exchange was Adult to Adult) Example 2 A:  “Would [...]

TA is not only post-Freudian but according to its founder’s wishes consciously extra-Freudian. That is to say that while it has its roots in psychoanalysis – since Berne was a psychoanalytic-trained psychiatrist – it was designed as a dissenting branch of psychoanalysis in that it put its emphasis on transactional, rather than “psycho-”, analysis. With [...]