Transactional Analysis Proper—and Improper

“A magisterial summary and reflective critique of transactional analysis and its relationships to the psychodynamics of most of the last century, this latest book by Keith Tudor is truly revolutionary. This is for the serious student, teacher and practitioner of transactional analysis. It covers and evaluates all the developments in the field since Berne and their potentials as practitioners encounter different populations and circumstances. Yet all, as Tudor emphasizes, are rooted in the same philosophical and ethical principles. Notwithstanding its complexity, the book is written in simple and clear language. I especially appreciated the extraordinarily useful tables. They also highlight that transactional analysis is not a one-size fits all approach for true believers with one set of techniques, but a rich and generative background from which, within a contractual framework, to come alongside our clients. For future students, teachers and practitioners, this will be The Book!”

James R. Allen, MD, MPH, Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst, Formerly Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center Oklahoma City, and Past President of the International Transactional Analysis Association

“This tour de force is an unfolding exploration of the core ideas of TA from philosophy to theory to methodology to practice. Keith Tudor constructs, critiques and examines the different views of the conceptual roots of transactional analysis, including I‘m OK, You’re OK, thinking Martian, ego states, scripts, and much more. He explores the implications of concepts philosophically and politically, locating them in space and time within the wider field of psychological thought as well as within society.

It is a challenging book and also a deeply respectful, inclusive and even a gentle one. It is also erudite and stimulating – a wonderful resource for others writing in the field. I found that it was not a quick read. In every chapter there was something to make me stop

and have a discussion with the author in my head, to look things up, to make notes, to agree and disagree, and much to muse about!

The collection of papers, some previously published and some new, also tracks the author’s own journey from his beginnings as a qualified transactional analyst in the 1990s through to the present day. At its heart, of course, are transactions – or, rather present-centred relating – from a deeply relational standpoint. There is a rich elaboration of Keith’s thinking about relating as well as his contribution to Stark’s (1999) modes of therapeutic action, namely ‘two-person plus’ relating, which invites the reader to embrace a constant higher level of awareness of the wider world, including issues of ecological and intersectional importance on one hand, and on the other, the professional and personal identity of a transactional analyst.”

Professor Charlotte Sills, Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst, Ashridge Hult University, Berkhamsted, and Metanoia Institute, London, UK

“Beginning with its title, the book Transactional Analysis Proper – and Improper, comprises a challenge from the author to transactional analysts to identify TA both in its ‘proper’ form (traditional, classical and transactional) and its less proper form, i.e., one which is more deconstructive, and acknowledging of the incongruent elements of the original theory and methodology of TA.

Drawing on his personal and professional journey as a transactional analyst, and as someone who has worked with, taught, and reflected on TA for some 35 years, Keith Tudor offers this delayed analysis using both scientific method and philosophical analysis. In doing so, he has created an intense book, full of bibliographical references, through which he traces the evolutionary path of thought in TA and its different and sometimes opposing orientations.

In this volume, which comprises some of his previous publications, as well as seven new chapters, the author attempts to give some answers to the contradictions he identifies in TA theory, and, in doing so, poses many questions for the reader to reflect upon, including that of the paradigm of ego states which lies at the heart of TA. The author does this on various levels – conceptual, clinical, phenomenological, and existential level, inviting us to go beyond a 'skin-to-skin' schema characteristic of the Western view of personality. The author proposes that we move towards a psychology of ‘we-ness’ in order to replace the top-down anthropocentric and anthropomorphic psychology with one that restores the inseparability of the self from the world. Visible in this new paradigm is the importance of recognising the self, the other, others and the environment in a co-creative relational mode that is oriented towards collective well-being as well as individual autonomy. What is book proposes and demonstrates is that the construction of postmodern identities cannot be reduced to the action of intrapsychic determinants alone.

This important contribution is vital for the future development of TA on both a theoretical and a methodological level. In various chapters, the author attempts to identify a map within which to move in order to review the main theoretical and methodological assumptions of TA, starting from the use of words and their meaning. The text emphasises the importance of the clinical and environmental context and their influence in the construction of theory, a construction that cannot fail to take into account the context in which we live and form our psychological world, a context in which we are in deep and constant relationship. Last but not least, this important volume suggests that the future of TA must be fluid and oriented towards the present and the future, and free from a past (including its contradictions), within which the present cannot be imprisoned.”

Dr Gaetano Sisalli, Clinical Transactional Analyst, Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst, and Psychiatrist, living and working in Catania, Italy

“In many ways reading Keith Tudor’s book feels like stepping into a craftsman’s workshop and watching him immersed in his work, assessing the weight of various materials, measuring their length, finding out their melting point, or how easily they break if bent. The author takes Berne’s pivotal ideas and critically observes them, playfully, but vigorously challenging them at times, turning them on their head and, ultimately, transforming them. His lens regarding the nature and purpose of TA, its practice, or the nature and purpose of transactional theory is often radical; however, it is not subservient to forms of radicalism, but remains (self) reflexive, committed to complexity and dialogue. Throughout the book, some passages convey echoes of either hopefulness, or disappointment in relation to the use or misuse of theory, yet each time the author’s relentless curiosity remains in place, unwavering.

The reading of Keith Tudor’s book becomes all the more meaningful when considered in relationship to other TA papers and in the broader context provided by philosophical and political writings. It is a reading that equally fosters the freedom to agree, as well to disagree with the content, the courage to exercise the craft of testing out the coherence of our theoretical frameworks. Therefore, it becomes a good companion for the reader’s mind and heart alike.”

Diana Deaconu, Psychologist and Certified Transactional Analyst, Bucharest, Romania

“In his aptly titled book, Transactional Analysis Proper – and Improper, Keith Tudor has surveyed and updated six decades of transactional analysis (TA) literature. The title points to a clear discussion of, and a careful balance between, the two poles of TA critique – that it is an overly simple ‘pop’ psychology, and that it has tried too hard to become complex, colonising other, particularly psychodynamic models. The book’s layout in three, roughly chronological parts, makes it immediately accessible to readers with both beginning and sophisticated sensibilities, and, read in sequence (though they do not have to be), they take the reader on a philosophical journey through TA theory, from foundational ideas to a complex future. The book offers depth and informed perspective to both social studies (and particularly psychotherapy) students and experienced practitioners and academics. It is likely to become a standard text in the field, and deservedly so.”

Seán Manning, Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, and former President of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists