Hi beautiful people I wanted to introduce this text just in the case that this knowledge may help someone at some time by its being available here. This text is not from the main body of work of Transactional Analysis. The most important books in Transactional Analysis are those by its founder Eric Berne; Games People Play, Games Alcoholics Play, Beyond Games and Scripts, and Sex in Human Loving. But his student Claude Steiner wrote a great TA book called Scripts People Live. Another fascinating read in TA is Born to Win: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments by Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward

The text presented here however proposes the main ideas of this theory of mind and human behavior in a straightfoward way which might be fitting for the TA virgin. At the same time, if any of this knowledge sparks an interest in anyone, I recommend reading the main books, for those are written in a very poetic, tender, and reasonable language--and that language, and the reasoning Eric Berne set in place, and the way he expressed these novel ideas, are the heart and soul of TA. Also the diagrams like the one I attached at the bottom are very important and about 100 pages of the 500 page Born to Win: Transactional Analysis with Gestalt Experiments and is of great importance when understanding transactions between the different ego states.



TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
by Gerald Corey


INTRODUCTION

Transactional analysis (TA) is both a theory of personality and an organized system of
interactional therapy. It is grounded on the assumption that we make current decisions based on
past premises—premises that were at one time appropriate to our survival needs but that may no
longer be valid. TA emphasizes the cognitive and behavioral aspects of the therapeutic process.
Within TA there are three recognized schools—classical, Schiffian (or reparenting), and
redecisional—and two unofficial schools identified as self-reparenting and corrective parenting.
The redecisional school has gained in prominence and is the focus of this chapter.
The goal of transactional analysis is autonomy, which is defined as awareness,
spontaneity, and the capacity for intimacy. In achieving autonomy people have the capacity to
make new decisions (redecide), thereby empowering themselves and altering the course of their
lives. As a part of the process of TA therapy, clients learn how to recognize the three ego
states—Parent, Adult, and Child—in which they function. Clients also learn how their current
behavior is being affected by the rules they received and incorporated as children and how they
can identify the “lifescript” that is determining their actions. This approach focuses on early
decisions that each person has made, and it stresses the capacity of clients to make new decisions
to change aspects of their lives that are no longer working.
TA is set apart from most other therapeutic approaches in that it is contractual and
decisional. The contract, which is developed by the client, clearly states the goals and direction
of the therapeutic process. Clients in TA establish their goals and direction and describe how
they will be different when they complete their contract. The contractual aspect of the therapy
process tends to equalize the power of the therapist and the client. It is the responsibility of
clients to decide what they will change. To turn their desires into reality, clients are required to
actively change their behavior.


Historical Background

Transactional analysis was originally developed by the late Eric Berne (1961), who was trained
as a Freudian psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. TA evolved out of Berne’s dissatisfaction with the
slowness of psychoanalysis in curing people of their problems. Berne’s major objections to
psychoanalysis were that it was time consuming, complex, and poorly communicated to clients.
Historically, TA developed as an extension of psychoanalysis with concepts and techniques
especially designed for group treatment. Berne discovered that by using TA his clients were
making significant changes in their lives. As his theory of personality evolved, Berne parted
ways with psychoanalysis to devote himself full time to the theory and practice of TA (Dusay,
1986).

Berne (1961) formulated most of the concepts of TA by paying attention to what his
clients were saying. He believed young children develop a personal plan for their life as a
strategy for physical and psychological survival and that people are shaped from their first few
years by a script that they follow during the rest of their lives. He began to see an ego state
emerge that correlated to the childhood experiences of his patients. He concluded that this Child
ego state was different from the “grown-up” ego state. Later he postulated that there were two
“grown-up” states: one he called the Parent ego state, which seemed to be a copy of the person’s
parents; the other, which was the rational part of the person, he named the Adult ego state.
Four phases in the development of TA have been identified by Dusay and Dusay (1989).
The first phase (1955-1962) began with Berne’s identification of the ego states (Parent, Adult,
and Child), which provided a perspective from which to explain thinking, feeling, and behaving.
He decided that the way to study personality was to observe here-and-now phenomena such as
the client’s voice, gestures, and vocabulary. These observable criteria provide a basis for
inferring a person’s past history and for predicting future problems. The second phase (1962-
1966) focused on transactions and “games.” It was during this period that TA became popular
because of its straightforward vocabulary and because people could recognize their own games.

At this time TA was primarily a cognitive approach, with little attention given to emotions. The
third phase (1966-1970) gave attention to lifescripts and script analysis. A lifescript is an
internal plan that determines the direction of one’s life. The fourth phase (1970 to the present) is
characterized by the incorporation of new techniques into TA practice (such as those from the
encounter group movement, Gestalt therapy, and psychodrama). TA is moving toward more
active and emotive models as a way of balancing its early emphasis on cognitive factors and
insight (Dusay & Dusay, 1989, p. 44.

This chapter highlights the expansion of Berne’s approach by Mary and the late Robert
Goulding (1979), leaders of the redecisional school of TA. The Gouldings differ from the
classical Bernian approach in a number of ways. They have combined TA with the principles
and techniques of Gestalt therapy, family therapy, psychodrama, and behavior therapy.
The redecisional approach helps group members experience their impasse, or the point at
which they feel stuck. They relive the context in which they made earlier decisions, some of
which were not functional, and they make new decisions that are functional. Redecisional
therapy is aimed at helping people challenge themselves to discover ways in which they perceive
themselves in victimlike roles and to take charge of their lives by deciding for themselves how
they will change.


KEY CONCEPTS


View of Human Nature

Transactional analysis is rooted in an antideterministic philosophy. It places faith in our capacity
to rise above habit patterns and to select new goals and behavior. However, this does not mean
that we are free from the influences of social forces. It acknowledges that we were influenced by
the expectations and demands of significant others, especially because our early decisions were
made at a time in life when we were highly dependent on others. We made certain decisions in
order to survive, both physically and psychologically, at some point in life. But these early
decisions can be reviewed and challenged, and if they are no longer serving us, then new
decisions can be made.


The Ego States

An ego state is a set of related thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in which part of an individual’s
personality is manifested at a given time (Stewart & Joines, 1987). All transactional analysts
work with ego states, which encompass important facets of the personality and are considered to
be essential and distinguishing characteristics of TA therapy (Dusay, 1986). Each person has a
basic trio of Parent, Adult, and Child (P-A-C), and individuals constantly shift from one of these
states to another, manifesting behavior congruent with the ego state of the moment. One
definition of autonomy is the capacity to move with agility and intention through ego states and
to operate in the one most appropriate to the reality of the given situation.
The Parent ego state contains the values, morals, core beliefs, and behaviors incorporated
from significant authority figures, primarily one’s parents. Outwardly, this ego state is expressed
toward others in critical or nurturing behavior. We each have a “Nurturing Parent” and a
“Critical Parent.” Inwardly, it is experienced as old parental messages that continue to influence
the inner Child. When we are in the Parent ego state, we react to situations as we imagine our
parents might have reacted, or we may act toward others the way our parents acted toward us.
The Parent contains all the “shoulds” and “oughts” and other rules for living. When we are in
that ego state, we may act in ways that are strikingly similar to those of our parents or other
significant people in our early life. We may use some of their very phrases, and our posture,
gestures, voice, and mannerisms may replicate those that we experienced in our parents.
The Adult ego state is the processor of data. It is the objective part of the person, which
gathers information about what is going on. It is not emotional or judgmental but works with the
facts and with external reality. The Adult is without passionate convictions, but many problems
also require empathy and intuition to be resolved.

The Child ego state is the original part of us and is most naturally who we are. It consists
of feelings, impulses, and spontaneous actions and includes “recordings” of early experiences.
The Child ego state is divided into Natural Child (NC) and Adapted Child (AC), both of which
have positive and negative aspects. The positive aspects of the Natural Child are the
spontaneous, ever so lovable, loving and charming parts of all of us. The negative aspect of the
Natural Child is to be impulsive to the degree our safety is compromised. The positive aspect of
the Adapted Child is that we respond appropriately in social situations. The negative aspect of
the Adapted Child involves overadapting wherein we give up our power and discount our value,
worth, and dignity.

Clients in TA therapy are first taught how to recognize in which of the ego states they are
functioning at any given time: Nurturing Parent, Critical Parent, Adult, Nurturing Child, or
Adapted Child. The aim is to enable them to decide consciously whether that state or another
state is most appropriate or useful.


The Need for Strokes

Humans need to be stimulated physically, socially, and intellectually. As we grow and develop,
we need to be recognized for who we are and what we do. This need for stimulation and
recognition is referred to as “strokes”; a stroke is any act of recognition or source of stimulation.

A basic premise of the TA approach is that humans need to receive both physical and
psychological “strokes” to develop a sense of trust in the world and a basis for loving themselves. There is ample evidence that lack of physical contact can impair infant growth and
development and, in extreme cases, can lead to death. Psychological strokes—verbal and
nonverbal signs of acceptance and recognition—are also necessary to people as confirmations of
their worth.

Strokes can be classified as verbal or nonverbal, unconditional (being) or conditional
(doing), and positive or negative. Conditional strokes say “I will like you if and when you are a
certain way”; they are received for doing something. Unconditional strokes say “I am willing to
accept you for who you are and for being who you are, and we can negotiate our differences.”
Positive strokes say “I like you,” and they may be expressed by warm physical touches,
accepting words, appreciation, a smile, and friendly gestures. These strokes are necessary for the
development of psychologically healthy people. Negative strokes say “I don’t like you,” and they
too can be expressed both verbally and nonverbally. Interestingly, negative strokes are
considered preferable to no strokes at all—that is, to being ignored.
TA theory pays attention to how people structure their time to get strokes. It also looks at
the life plan of individuals to determine what kind of strokes they both get and give. According
to TA, it behooves us to become aware of the strokes we survive on, the strokes that we both ask
for and receive, and the strokes that we give to others.


Injunctions and Counterinjunctions

The Gouldings’ redecision work is grounded in the TA concepts of injunctions and early
decisions (M. Goulding, 1987). When parents are excited by a child’s behavior, the messages
given are often permissions. However, when parents feel threatened by a child’s behavior, the
messages expressed are often injunctions, which are issued from the parents’ Child ego state.
Such messages—expressions of disappointment, frustration, anxiety, and unhappiness—establish the “don’ts” by which children learn to live. Out of their own pain, parents can issue this short,
but profound list of general injunctions: “Don’t.” “Don’t be.” “Don’t be close.” “Don’t be
separate from me.” “Don’t be the sex you are.” “Don’t want.” “Don’t need.” “Don’t think.”
“Don’t feel.” “Don’t grow up.” “Don’t be a child.” “Don’t succeed.” “Don’t be you.” “Don’t be
sane.” “Don’t be well.” “Don’t belong” (M. Goulding, 1987; Goulding & Goulding, 1979).
These messages are predominantly given nonverbally and at the psychological level between
birth and 7 years of age.

When parents observe their sons or daughters not succeeding, or not being comfortable
with who they are, they attempt to “counter” the effect of the earlier messages with
counterinjunctions. These messages come from the parents’ Parent ego state and are given at the
social level. They convey the “shoulds,” “oughts,” and “dos” of parental expectations. Examples
of counterinjunctions are “Be perfect.” “Try hard.” “Hurry up.” “Be strong.” “Please me.” The
problem with these counterinjunctions is that no matter how much we try to please we feel as
though we still are not doing enough or being enough. This demonstrates the rule that the
messages given at the psychological level are far more powerful and enduring than those given
at the social level.

Injunctions aren’t just planted in our heads while we sit by passively. According to Mary
Goulding (1987), children decide either to accept these parental messages or to fight against
them. By making decisions in response to real or imagined injunctions, we assume some of the
responsibility for indoctrinating ourselves. Clients in TA therapy explore the “shoulds” and
“shouldn’ts,” the “dos” and “don’ts” by which they have been trained to live, and how they
allow them to operate in their lives. The first step in freeing oneself from behaviors dictated by
the often irrational and generally uncritically received parental messages is awareness of the specific injunctions and counterinjunctions that one has accepted as a child. Once clients have
identified and become aware of these internalized “shoulds,” “oughts,” “dos,” “don’ts,” and
“musts,” they are in a better position to critically examine them to determine whether they are
willing to continue living by them.


Decisions and Redecisions

Transactional analysis emphasizes our ability to become aware of decisions that govern our
behavior and the capacity to make new decisions that will beneficially alter the course of our
life. This section addresses the decisions made in response to parental injunctions and
counterinjunctions and clarifies the redecisional process.
The following list, based on the Gouldings’ work (1978, 1979), includes common
injunctions and some possible decisions that could be made in response to them.
1. “Don’t make mistakes.” Children who hear and accept this message often fear taking
risks that may make them look stupid. They tend to equate making mistakes with being a failure.
• Possible decisions: “I’m scared of making the wrong decision, so I simply won’t decide.”
“Because I made a dumb choice, I won’t decide on anything important again!” “I’d better be
perfect if I hope to be accepted.”
2. “Don’t be.” This lethal message is often given nonverbally by the way parents hold (or
don’t hold) the child. The basic message is “I wish you hadn’t been born.”
• Possible decisions: “I’ll keep trying until I get you to love me.”
3. “Don’t be close.” Related to this injunction are the messages “Don’t trust” and “Don’t
love.”
• Possible decisions: “I let myself love once, and it backfired. Never again!” “Because it’s
scary to get close, I’ll keep myself distant.”
4. “Don’t be important.” If you are constantly discounted when you speak, you are likely to
believe that you are unimportant.
• Possible decisions: “If, by chance, I ever do become important, I’ll play down my
accomplishments.”
5. “Don’t be a child.” This message says: “Always act adult!” “Don’t be childish.” “Keep
control of yourself.”
• Possible decisions: “I’ll take care of others and won’t ask for much myself.” “I won’t let
myself have fun.”
6. “Don’t grow.” This message is given by the frightened parent who discourages the child
from growing up in many ways.
• Possible decisions: “I’ll stay a child, and that way I’ll get my parents to approve of me.”
“I won’t be sexual, and that way my father won’t push me away.”
7. “Don’t succeed.” If children are positively reinforced for failing, they may accept the
message not to seek success.
• Possible decisions: “I’ll never do anything perfect enough, so why try?” “I’ll succeed, no
matter what it takes.” “If I don’t succeed, then I’ll not have to live up to high expectations others
have of me.”
8. “Don’t be you.” This involves suggesting to children that they are the wrong sex, shape,
size, color, or have ideas or feelings that are unacceptable to parental figures.
• Possible decisions: “They’d love me only if I were a boy (girl), so it’s impossible to get
their love.” “I’ll pretend I’m a boy (girl).”
9. “Don’t be sane” and “Don’t be well.” Some children get attention only when they are
physically sick or acting crazy.
• Possible decisions: “I’ll get sick, and then I’ll be included.” “I am crazy.”
10. “Don’t belong.” This injunction may indicate that the family feels that the child does not
belong anywhere.
• Possible decisions: “I’ll be a loner forever.” “I’ll never belong anywhere.”
Whatever injunctions people have received, and whatever the resulting life decisions were,
transactional analysis maintains that people can make substantive life changes by changing their
decisions—by redeciding in the moment. A basic assumption of TA is that anything that has
been learned can be relearned.

As a part of the process of TA therapy, clients are often encouraged to return to the
childhood scenes in which they arrived at self-limiting decisions. The therapist may facilitate this
process with any of the following interventions: “As you are speaking, how old do you feel?” “Is
what you are saying reminding you of any times when you were a child?” “What pictures are
coming to your mind right now?” “Could you exaggerate that frown on your face? What are you
feeling? What scene comes to mind as you experience your frowning?”

Mary Goulding (1987) says that there are many ways of assisting a client to return to
some critical point in childhood. “Once there,” she adds, “the client reexperiences the scene; and
then she relives it in fantasy in some new way that allows her to reject old decisions” (p. 28.
After clients experience a redecision from being in an old scene, they design experiments so that
they can practice new behavior to reinforce their redecision both in and out of the therapy office.
With each of the ten basic injunctions previously described (and some possible decisions
that flow from them), there are countless possibilities for new decisions. In each case the
therapist chooses an early scene that fits the client’s injunctions/decision pattern, so that the
scene will help this client make a specific redecision. For example, Brenda relives scenes with
her parents when she was positively stroked for failing or was negatively stroked for succeeding.
It was apparently at those times that she accepted the injunction “Don’t succeed.” Her therapist
challenges her to examine whether the decision, which may have been functional or even
necessary in the past, is currently appropriate. She may redecide that “I will make it, and I am
successful, even though it is not what you want from me.” Another example is Jason, who
eventually sees that he responded to his father’s injunction “Don’t grow” by deciding to remain
helpless and immature. He recalls learning that when he was independent his dad shouted at him
and, when he was helpless, he was given his father’s attention. Because he wanted his father’s
approval, Jason decided, “I’ll remain a child forever.” During a therapy session, Jason goes back
to a childhood scene in which he was stroked for his helplessness, and he talks to his father now
in a way that he never did as a child: “Dad, even though I still want your approval, I don’t need it
to exist. Your acceptance is not worth the price I’d have to pay. I’m capable of deciding for
myself and of standing on my own two feet. I’ll be the man that I want to be, not the boy that
you want me to be.”

In this redecision work Brenda and Jason enter the past and create fantasy scenes in
which they can safely give up old and currently inappropriate early decisions, because both are
armed with an understanding in the present that enables them to relive the scene in a new way.
This process of redecision is a beginning rather than an ending. The Gouldings (1979) believe it
is possible to give a new ending to the scenes in which original decisions were made—a new
ending that often results in a new beginning that allows clients to think, feel, and act in
revitalized ways. Once clients experience a redecision through fantasy work, they and their
therapists design experiments so they can practice new behavior to reinforce their decision. The
Gouldings maintain that clients can discover an ability to be autonomous and to experience a
sense of freedom, excitement, and energy.


Games

A transaction, which is considered the basic unit of communication, consists of an exchange of
strokes between two or more people. A game is an ongoing series of transactions that ends with a
negative payoff called for by the script that concludes the game and advances some way of
feeling badly. By their very nature, games are designed to prevent intimacy. Games consist of
three basic elements: a series of complementary transactions that on the surface seem plausible;
an ulterior transaction that is the hidden agenda; and a negative payoff that concludes the game
and is the real purpose of the game.

Berne (1964) described an anthology of games originating from three positions:
persecutor, rescuer, and victim. For example, people who have decided they are helpless may
play some version of “Poor Me” or “Kick Me.” A student “loses” or “forgets” her homework for
the second time this week and makes the announcement publicly in class. The teacher gets angry,
and the student takes the payoff and gets paid attention to in the process. People who feel
superior may either persecute or rescue. The persecutor plays some form of “Gotcha” or
“Blemish” (looking for the flaw), whereas the rescuer plays some form of “I am only trying to
help you.” Berne described a variety of common games, including “Yes, but,” “Kick me,”
“Harassed,” “If it weren’t for you,” “Martyr,” “Ain’t it awful,” “I’m only trying to help you,”
“Uproar,” and “Look what you made me do!” Games always have some payoff (or else they
wouldn’t be perpetuated), and one common payoff is support for the decisions described in the
preceding section. For example, people who have decided that they are helpless may play the
“Yes, but” game. They ask others for help and then greet any suggestions with a list of reasons
why the suggestions won’t work; thus, they feel free to cling to their helplessness. Addicts of the
“Kick me” game are often people who have decided to be rejected; they set themselves up to be
mistreated by others so that they can play the role of the victim whom nobody likes.
By engaging in game playing, people receive strokes and also maintain and defend their
early decisions. They find evidence to support their view of the world, and they collect bad
feelings. These unpleasant feelings that people experience after a game are known as rackets. A
racket feeling is a familiar emotion that was learned and encouraged in childhood and
experienced in many different stress situations, but it is maladaptive as an adult means of
problem solving (Stewart & Joines, 1987). Rackets have much the same quality as feelings the
people had as children. These rackets are maintained by actually choosing situations that will
support them. Therefore, those who typically feel depressed, angry, or bored may be actively
collecting these feelings and feeding them into long-standing feeling patterns that often lead to
stereotypical ways of behaving. They also choose the games they will play to maintain their
rackets. When people “feel bad,” they often get sympathy from others or control others by their
bad moods.

In their therapy, TA clients are taught to make connections between the games they
played as children and those they play now—for example, how they attempted to get attention in
the past and how those past attempts relate to the games they play now to get stroked. The aim
here is to offer clients the chance to drop certain games in favor of responding honestly—an
opportunity that may lead them to discover ways of changing negative strokes and to learn how
to give and receive positive strokes.


Basic Psychological Life Positions and Lifescripts

Decisions about oneself, one’s world, and one’s relationships to others are crystallized during the
first 5 years of life. Such decisions are basic for the formulation of a life position, which
develops into the roles of the lifescript. Generally, once a person has decided on a life position,
there is a tendency for it to remain fixed unless there is some intervention, such as therapy, to
change the underlying decisions. Games are often used to support and maintain life positions and
to play out lifescripts. People seek security by maintaining that which is familiar, even though
the familiar may be highly unpleasant. As we have seen earlier, games such as “Kick me” may
be unpleasant, but they have the virtue of allowing the player to maintain a familiar position in
life, even though this position is negative.

Transactional analysis identifies four basic life positions, all of which are based on
decisions made as a result of childhood experiences, and all of which determine how people feel
about themselves and how they relate to others:
1. I’m OK—You’re OK.
2. I’m OK—You’re not OK.
3. I’m not OK—You’re OK.
4. I’m not OK—You’re not OK.
The I’m OK—You’re OK position is generally game-free. It is the belief that people have
basic value, worth, and dignity as human beings. That people are OK is a statement of their
essence, not necessarily their behavior. This position is characterized by an attitude of trust and
openness, a willingness to give and take, and an acceptance of others as they are. People are
close to themselves and to others. There are no losers, only winners.
I’m OK—You’re not OK is the position of people who project their problems onto others
and blame them, put them down, and criticize them. The games that reinforce this position
involve a self-styled superior (the “I’m OK”) who projects anger, disgust, and scorn onto a
designated inferior, or scapegoat (the “You’re not OK”). This position is that of the person who
Corey TPCP(7e) / WebTutor / Transactional Analysis 17
needs an underdog to maintain his or her sense of “OKness.”

I’m not OK—You’re OK is known as the depressive position and is characterized by
feeling powerless in comparison with others. Typically such people serve others’ needs instead
of their own and generally feel victimized. Games supporting this position include “Kick me”
and “Martyr”—games that support the power of others and deny one’s own.
The I’m not OK—You’re not OK quadrant is known as the position of futility and
frustration. Operating from this place, people have lost interest in life and may see life as totally without promise. This self-destructive stance is characteristic of people who are unable to cope in the real world, and it may lead to extreme withdrawal, a return to infantile behavior, or violent behavior resulting in injury or death of themselves or others.

In reality each of us has a favorite position we operate from under stress. The challenge is
to become aware of how we are attempting to make life real through our basic life existential
position and create an alternative. Related to the concept of basic psychological positions is the
lifescript, or plan for life. A personal lifescript is an unconscious life plan made in childhood,
reinforced by the parents, “justified” by subsequent events, and culminating in a chosen
alternative (Stewart & Joines, 1987). This script, as we have seen, is developed early in life as a
result of parental teaching (such as injunctions and counterinjunctions) and the early decisions
we make. Among these decisions is selecting the basic psychological position, or dramatic role,
that we play in our lifescript. Indeed, lifescripts are comparable to a dramatic stage production,
with a cast of characters, a plot, scenes, dialogues, and endless rehearsals. In essence, the
lifescript is a blueprint that tells people where they are going in life and what they will do when
they arrive.

According to Berne (1972), through our early interactions with parents and others we
receive a pattern of strokes that may be either supporting or disparaging. Based on this stroking
pattern, we make a basic existential decision about ourselves; that is, we assume one of the four
life positions just described. This existential decision is then reinforced by messages (both verbal
and nonverbal) that we continue to receive during our lifetime. It is also reinforced by the results
of our games, rackets, and interpretations of events. During our childhood years we also make
the decision whether people are trustworthy.
Our basic belief system is thus shaped through this process of deciding about ourselves
and others. If we hope to change the life course that we are traveling, it helps to understand the
components of this script, which to a large extent determine our patterns of thinking, feeling, and
behaving.

Through a process known as script analysis, clients can become aware of how they
acquired their lifescript and are able to see more clearly their life role (basic psychological life
position). Script analysis helps clients see the ways in which they feel compelled to play out their
lifescript and offers them alternative life choices. Put in another way, the therapeutic process
relieves clients of the compulsion to play games that justify behavior called for in their lifescript.

Script analysis demonstrates the process by which people acquired a script and the
strategies they employ to justify their actions based on it. The aim is to help clients open up
possibilities for making changes in their early programming. Clients are asked to recall their
favorite stories as children, to determine how they fit into these stories or fables, and to see how
these stories fit their current life experiences.

Steiner (1967) developed a lifescript questionnaire that can be used as a catalyst for...

Thanks for putting it out there I will put it on the list. I am interested in learning more about the concept of life scripts.

Scripts People Live is an amazing book for that, it analyses several life scripts. Life scripts are generally based on archetypes (e.g; Atlas, carries the world on his/her shoulders. Prohpet, is sent to save the world.) We say that script decisions are based on child logic, which means that they are based on the emotions that the child felt during pivotal experiences and how they perceived the world through their early way of reality-testing.

A way of getting to a relevant script is to ask clients to think about what they believe will happen when they are in old age. Do they believe they will be alive at 80 or 90 years old, be healthy, happy, and contented? What do they think will be on their headstone or grave? What would they like to have on it?