Transactional Analysis: Understanding Your Inner States

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a psychotherapeutic approach that helps us better understand ourselves and our interactions with others. The core idea: each person carries within them three inner states — the Parent, the Adult, and the Child. These “ego-states” shape how we think, feel, and act in everyday life.

By exploring these states, TA helps us recognise unconscious patterns and learn how to make healthier, more conscious choices.

What Can Transactional Analysis Help With?

Working with TA can help you:

• Gain independence in decision-making

• Learn to trust yourself

• Make conscious choices that serve your wellbeing

• Express emotions openly and honestly

Eric Berne’s Approach

Eric Berne, the founder of TA, noticed that people often act as if several personalities live within them — each taking the lead in different situations. His research defined the three ego-states:

• Parent — beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours absorbed from parents or authority figures. This state can be caring and protective, but also critical or anxious.

• Adult — the rational, objective, here-and-now part of us that analyses situations logically.

• Child — the emotional part, shaped by early experiences. It carries spontaneity, creativity, and sensitivity, but also vulnerability.

According to Berne, the goal of TA is to balance these states, so a person can live authentically, build trust, and express themselves freely.

Key Techniques in TA

TA uses several methods to uncover how we think, feel, and relate:

• Structural analysis — exploring how your inner Parent, Adult, and Child interact.

• Transactional analysis — looking at real-life communication: how we talk, behave, and react in relationships.

• Game analysis — recognising hidden patterns in communication that may lead to emotional “payoffs” (like guilt, resentment, or anger).

• Script analysis — identifying unconscious life scripts shaped in childhood that still influence present behaviour.

In therapy, these tools create space for dialogue between ego-states, helping you recognise old patterns, accept them, and move toward change.

Transactional Analysis with Pleso Therapy

You can explore TA with licensed therapists who are trained in this method and tailor their work to your needs. Therapy on our platform offers:

• Safe exploration of recurring patterns and hidden dynamics

• Practical tools to shift unhealthy behaviours and strengthen relationships

• Personalised guidance to help you balance your emotional and rational sides

• Convenient access to online sessions wherever you are

TA can help you uncover how past experiences shape your present and give you the tools to live with greater awareness, authenticity, and freedom.

With Pleso Therapy, therapy is not about changing who you are — it’s about reconnecting with your true self and building healthier, more fulfilling relationships.