TA Insights: Janice Dowson TAPI
Our next TA Insight comes from Janice Dowson TAPI
Enjoy!
Ghan’s Smiles/Frown Frequency
Organization and group function have long been a cornerstone of transactional analysis theory and application. The late Leonard Ghan measured group effectiveness through the “smiles/frowns frequency” of group participants. In what Berne called “ailing groups,” Ghan argued that this smiles/frowns measure can be ignored by those in leadership positions, resulting in diminishing group membership and effectiveness.
Throughout my 45 years experience with transactional analysis, groups that “Get on With” the business at hand and accomplish goals have a higher number of smiles over the number of frowns and flat faces. Get on With groups create a culture of appreciation through diverse membership that is open to differing viewpoints, making time to establish clear contracts within the group and respectfully keeping contracts within the group.
With this foundation, group trust will grow and the frequency of smiles over frowns will increase, as with the positive strokes over negative strokes frequency.
Leonard Ghan, MSW, TSTA trained with Eric Berne in the early 1960’s and served on the ITAA Board of Trustees in 1965.
Janice Dowson is responsible for the wonderfully important Project TA 101, which you can see on YouTube, check it out!
TA Insights: Jessica D’Andrea, TAPI
Our next TA Insight comes from Jessica D’Andrea, TAPI
According to the Joines’ Personality Adaptation model, development is based on the interaction between nature and nurture. Fate may contribute in that we can have the best genes and the best parents, but sometimes life events may shape us in unexpected ways.
For what concerns the nurture part of the equation, individuals cleverly adapt to their family system to get strokes and support. Some of those adaptive strategies are positive, and some are negative: as children, we often give up our spontaneity in order to experience closeness, proximity, and love from our caregivers.
Lorna Benjamin, Ph.D. says that, throughout our lives, we live with our parents “in our head”, and we use “copy processes” to feel close to them, as we did as children: we be like the parent (identification), we can treat ourselves as the parent did (introjection), or act as if they were still around and in charge (recapitulation).
The idea is that “Every psychopathology [including racket feelings and dysfunctional behaviors] is a gift of love” (Benjamin, 1993): in moments of stress, when everything else fails, we can at least experience some closeness with our loved ones by recreating the internal stroking pattern that is so familiar to us.
If we think in terms of ego states relational units (Joines, 2012), we can see how those internal attachments, affects and adapted behaviors are the basic blocks of our life scripts. Becoming aware of old patterns of behaviors gives us the opportunity to choose, and regain spontaneity and intimacy.
TA Insights: Wayne Hart PhD
Our next TA Insight comes from Wayne Hart PhD.
The power of one word, at the right time. It was in the late 1970s. I was attending a one week redecision workshop with Bob and Mary Goulding at Mt. Madonna. When it was my time to work, I focused on loss of relationships. During a two chair exercise when I was deep in emotion I spontaneously said, “Everybody leaves me.” A momentary silence in the room was broken by Bob’s booming voice saying “Everybody?” I immediately recognized the untruth I believed, and I was able to restate a new belief, “Some people have left me.” A part of my script was changed forever, with one word, at the right time. Thank you, Bob.
Thank you Wayne for sharing this beautiful experience
You can learn more about Wayne Hart here:
TA Insights: Linda Gregory PhD
We are excited to launch our new Series: TA Insights
Our first Insight is from Linda Gregory PHD.
We are all longing for self-actualisation and transcending, albeit many are often unconscious of this need. Connection to our deep being/our I am self/spirituality, is essential to mental health and well-being.Symptoms of depression, anxiety, feeling disempowered, isolated, stressed, drug and alcohol abuse, relationship difficulties, and many other ills, can be attributed to not being connected to our personal spirituality, to not being aware of our human need to self-actualize and transcend.
The big question is, What is stopping us from reaching self-actualisation and autonomy?
You can learn more about Dr Gregory and her new book
Three Paths to Autonomy and Self-Actualisation, for Therapist and Client @ www.drlindagregory.com
The book is also available on Amazon
Live With Lucy
Watch ‘Live with Lucy’ from the USATAA Facebook page as Lucy Freedman shares her experience as a Transactional Analyst and her role on the USATAA Council and as a member of the ITAA Board of Trustees.
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