USATAA History

In January 1982 at the Winter Congress of the International Transactional Analysis Association (ITAA) in Monterey, California, Felipe Garcia called an organizational meeting of interested US members of ITAA to begin work on founding a USA TA association.  The intent of the organization was to create a grass-roots, non-hierarchical, cooperative, truly democratic form of government with equal distribu­tion of power among the voting members, avoiding central­ized power, and to use TA philosophy of OK-OK transac­tions in maintaining a spontaneous, intimate, aware, and responsible organization.

By that time, most other countries in the world had developed their own national associations, and regional multi-national groups formed from these associations were beginning to emerge.

If the ITAA was to become a truly internation­al organization rather than a US organization, the US was going to have to develop its own national organization and join the growing community of national associations. In the spring of 1982, Muriel James, President of ITAA, extended her sup­port for a USA TA organization.

At a party given by the emerging US organization at the ITAA Snowmass Summer Conference in 1982, 133 members joined the 27 charter members. The party in Snowmass was a great event. An atmo­sphere of unity and mutual support prevailed.

The USATAA was on its way. Over time, the regions as well as the national organization held successful conferences and gatherings. We cosponsored the 2009 TA / Redecision Conference in New Orleans. In recent years, we have held annual Gatherings at Frenchman’s Cove, Jamaica, usually the first week of February. This offers an intimate exchange of ideas and experiences in our open space format.

Major accomplishments included three conferences co-sponsored with ITAA: the 2007 and 2014 International TA Conferences which we co-sponsored with ITAA in TA’s birthplace, San Francisco. In 2019 we co-sponsored the International TA Conference with Southeast Institute and ITAA in Raleigh, NC.

With the dissolution of the Canadian TA Association and the inclusion of members from outside the US, we extended our base to include all of North America, and to add associate members from places as diverse as Jamaica and Singapore. We dissolved our old regional structure that was based on states in the US and are now organized more around interests and educational offerings. We host our website, training activities, conferences, and educational materials, with the intention to be the primary organization for people who practice TA in the United States.