Eric Leonard Byrne
Born May 10, 1910 in Montreal.
Berne studied medicine and received his Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery degrees from McGill University Medical School in 1935.
After completing his internship in the United States in 1936, he opened his psychiatric residency at the Psychiatric Clinic of Yale University School of Medicine, where he worked for two years. In 1939 Berne became an American citizen and shortened his name from Eric Leonard Bernstein to Erica Berna. His first position was as a clinical assistant in psychiatry, which he held until 1943.
In 1940, Byrne opened a private practice in Connecticut. There he met his first wife, with whom he had two children. In 1940-1943. he practiced simultaneously in New York. In 1941 he began training in psychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute.
During World War II, Dr. Bern served in the Medical Corps, where he was promoted to the rank of major. He did group therapy in psychiatric wards. Free from military obligations in 1946, he resumed psychoanalytic training at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute. In 1947, he began analytical work with Erik Erikson, with whom he worked for two years.
After the analysis with Erickson began, Berne met a young divorced woman with whom he entered into a second marriage. Erickson insisted that Eric should not marry until the end of the didactic analysis, and therefore only in 1949 Eric and Dorothy exchanged vows, settled in Carmel and Dorothy later gave birth to three children in this marriage.
Before 1956 Berne wrote two works based on material previously read at the San Francisco Psychiatric Clinic: “Intuition V: Self-Image” and “Ego States in Psychotherapy.” In the first article Berne indicated how he arrived at the concept of ego states, and where he got the idea of the separateness of "adult" and "child". In the following article he developed the tripartite scheme used today ( Parent, Adult, Child), introduced a method with three circles schematically depicting these conditions, calling it “a new approach in psychotherapy.”
The third article, entitled "Transactional Analysis: A New and Effective Method in Group Therapy", was written a few months later and presented at a conference in Los Angeles in 1957.
Since January 1962, the journal "Transactional Analysis Bulletin" began to be published, with Bern as its editor. In 1964, Byrne and his fellow San Francisco seminarians decided to create the Transactional Analysis Association, renaming it the International Transactional Analysis Association (ITAA).
From 1964, after his second divorce, Bern's life became more chaotic as he tried to find another life partner. His failures in this area led him to work hard, devoting a lot of time to writing new works. In 1967, he entered into a third marriage. By early 1970, he was divorced again.
In 1970 Berne suffered two heart attacks. Two weeks before the first attack, Berne told his friends how good he felt. He had just finished two books, Sex in Human Love and What Do You Say After You Say Hello?, and was very pleased. But in June 1970 he suffered his first sharp chest pains. A few days later he suffered a second attack, this time a massive one, which caused his death. Eric Bern died July 15, 1970.
Description from Big psychological dictionary - Meshcheryakov B., Zinchenko B.
BERN ERIC(Berne, 1910-1970) - American. psychotherapist and psychologist who, based on his development of some psychoanalytic ideas, created "transactional analysis"(cm. Transactional Analysis). Unlike classical psychoanalysts, who bring the analysis of the problems experienced by the client to his first days and years of life, B. considered it necessary to bring the analysis to the life history of his parents and other ancestors. The most important part of the analysis is the selection "scenarios"(life plans) of an individual, often planned by ancestors (for example, a father wants his son to become a scientist despite his son’s desire to become a football player), as well as "structural analysis" states of the self of a given individual (ego states). There are 3 of these states: Parent(behavioral patterns of the individual, repeating the patterns of parents), Adult(states of the Self that objectively assess reality) and Child(“archaic remnants” of childhood). In different situations of interpersonal communication, different states of the Self can be activated and determine the specific structure of “transactions” (units communication, cm. Transaction). The most important type of such structure is "game"(system of transactions with hidden motivation, predictable outcome). The main works of B. (E. E. Sokolov) are devoted to the analysis of various kinds of “games” used by people in everyday communication.
Eric Berne is a famous American psychiatrist and psychologist. He is known for developing the now very popular transactional analysis and scenario analysis. He also developed ego states, which, in his opinion, underlie interpersonal relationships. Below will be presented his brief biography, as well as the main tenets of his teaching.
Brief biography
Eric Lennard Bern was born in late spring in 1910 in the Canadian city of Montreal. His father, an emigrant from Russia, worked as a doctor. He often took his son with him on rounds. This influenced the formation of the worldview of the future great scientist.
Having trained as a doctor, Eric Berne emigrated to the United States. The psychology of human relationships and relationships between people always interested him, so in the forties he worked as a military psychiatrist. When World War II ended, he published his first work, Psyche in Action. After some time, the psychologist revised this book, and it was called “A Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis for a Wide Reader.”
Eric Berne lived an interesting life: he wrote books, traveled, was married three times and divorced three times. In the last years of his life, he worked on writing articles and also advised patients as a psychologist. At the same time, he was an authoritative figure in the psychological movement, held important positions and was widely known among specialists and ordinary people.
The greatest psychologist died in the summer of 1970; he worked until his last day in his clinic in California.
Basics of teaching
The above ego states have symbolic names:
- Adult.
- Parent.
- Child.
“Adult” is an ego state responsible for analyzing the surrounding reality, rational response and a serious approach. “Parent” is our conscience, that part of the soul that is actively indignant if something is done incorrectly. The “parent” determines what is ethical and what is unethical for each individual person.
And “Child”? The “child” focuses only on his needs: is this action interesting to him? Is it fun? Comfortable or not? This is how the world is always assessed by children, so the ego-state “Child” is the most living and emotional part of a person.
It is interesting that the American psychiatrist developed not only the theory of ego states in transactional analysis. In addition, he developed a diagnosis of ego states, also known as structural analysis, as well as script analysis. After all, what is a transaction? These are the actions that underlie a person's interpersonal relationships and actions.. The sequence of transactions can be called a game that every person plays, often not of his own free will. Eric Bern studied these games.
Eric Lennard Berne has written several world-famous books, the ideas for which came from some particularly interesting seminars. These books immediately became widely known. For example, “Games People Play” almost instantly sold out in huge numbers and was included in the “Books That Change Life” series.
- "Psyche in action."
- "Sex in Human Love."
- "Group treatment"
- "Transactional analysis and psychotherapy."
- "Beyond Games and Scenarios."
The work “Know Thyself” may be of interest. It tells about the imprints of the past, which are securely hidden in our subconscious, as if in an old closet. In this book, the author develops and refines his thoughts about the richness of the human subconscious, as well as about the huge amount of information, dreams, experience, memories that our psyche hides...
Eric Berne studied the dynamics of the development of large and small social groups, be it a family, a work team, the city of Antananarivo or the planet Earth. The psychiatrist's research in the field of leadership and subordination is interesting. He describes in detail the mechanism of formation of such a phenomenon, as well as influence.
His developments will be of interest to anyone who plans to achieve success in their life endeavors. It is known, for example, that famous American and British politicians called their popular scientific work by a psychologist called “The Leader and the Group” their handbook, and prominent business coaches often use it as a practical guide.
American psychologist Eric Berne can rightfully be considered the greatest scientist. His works are on a par with the works of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, and the influence of this talented doctor on modern psychology and psychotherapy is almost invaluable. His contribution to the science of human thinking is truly incredible, and his scientific developments are used today in many areas of human knowledge. Author: Irina Shumilova
Eric Berne became famous throughout the world of psychotherapy and psychology due to his theory about people’s communication with each other and their attitude towards themselves and others. Eric Berne's transactional analysis was studied by many psychologists, who agreed that a person really lives his life according to the scenario that was laid down in childhood. Many words of parents lay down the stereotype and determine the quality of his life and communication. What is transactional analysis as a method of psychotherapy? What is its essence and benefits for humans?
What is Eric Berne's theory of transactional analysis?
It is generally considered to reflect the analysis of behavior and interaction of a person in a group and within himself. This theory has gained great popularity due to the accessibility of concepts and explanation of human behavioral reactions.
The main postulate here is that in certain circumstances a person can act depending on which of the three I-positions he accepts. Bern Eric was the first to draw attention to these positions. Transactional analysis originates from psychoanalysis, and therefore examines and studies the deep aspects of the human psyche.
For psychotherapy, an important point in the application of this theory is the statement that each person can learn to think and be responsible for their actions, trust, first of all, feelings and needs, make decisions and build personal relationships. From this position, Eric Berne's theory is a very effective method of helping a person solve life problems.
Positions in transactions
In this theory, the easiest to understand are three ego states: Parent, Child, Adult. Each of them is significantly different from the other, having a set of behavioral characteristics, thinking and feelings.
It is very important for a psychotherapist to understand in what state a person acts in one way or another, and what can be changed in his behavior so that he can be a harmonious person, which Bern Eric spoke about. Transactional analysis suggests three basic rules regarding these ego states:
- Anyone of any age was once small, so they can do something under the influence of the Child ego state.
- Everyone (with a normally developed brain) is endowed with the ability to make adequate decisions and evaluate reality, which indicates the presence of the Adult ego state.
- We all had parents or persons replacing them, therefore we have this beginning, expressed in the Parent ego-state.
The basis of psychotherapy using transactional analysis is to help a person become aware of unproductive stereotypical behavior. Analysis of transactions, carried out with the help of a specialist, helps a person become more productive in finding solutions, in understanding reality, and in setting further goals.
Types of transactions in psychotherapy
Any interactions between people, verbal or non-verbal, are called transactions in the theory developed by Berne Eric. Transactional analysis within the framework of psychotherapy involves the study of human relationships, as well as the search for solutions to emerging problems.
It is important for a specialist to determine which patterns led to difficulties in relationships. There are two types of verbal and nonverbal interactions:
- parallel;
- cross.
Parallel modes of interaction
The psychotherapist, working with the client, determines what type of transactions were used. Parallel relationships are a constructive type of relationship. In this case, the ego positions must coincide. For example, a transaction with the question “How are you?” and the answer “Everything is fine!” produced from the perspective of an Adult. In this case, no problems arise during interaction.
Cross transactions
Crossing can provoke conflicts. This is an interaction in which an unexpected reaction occurs to a stimulus (question or address) from the position of another ego state. For example, the question "Where is my watch?" and the answer “Where you left it, get it there!” - transaction from the perspective of an Adult and a Parent. In this case, conflict may develop.
There are also hidden transactions (at the psychological and social levels). In this case, it is important to analyze the incentives of people communicating with each other.
Incentives in communication
Approval is important for personal development. This is one of the basic human needs. In transactional analysis theory, such approval or stimulation is called “stroking.” Such moments in communication can have a positive or negative connotation. “Strokes” can be unconditional (simply for the fact that a person exists) and conditional (given for actions). The latter are precisely colored by emotions with a “+” or “-” sign.
In therapeutic practice, a specialist teaches a person to accept such stimuli or not to do so, especially when they are negative. Positive conditional “strokes” are also not always appropriate, since a person learns to be “good”, that is, he tries to please everyone, while infringing on himself.
It is also important to teach the client to refuse the conditions that are put forward with a positive stimulus if they do not correspond to the person’s internal positions, which Bern Eric especially emphasized. Transactional analysis helps the client focus on creating the conditions necessary for him, where he can discover new strengths in himself for making decisions, and so on. In a therapeutic contact, a psychologist must teach a person to accept himself, then the consultation will be successful.
Honest and dishonest transactions
The next point in the study of transactions as a method of therapy is the analysis of the interactions that determine the pastime of the individual. This phenomenon was called the structuring of time by Eric Berne. Psychoanalysis tends to look at it from a slightly different angle: from the position of defense mechanisms.
There are six ways to structure time:
- care (a manipulative method of influencing a person);
- games (a series of hidden transactions that also “dishonestly” manipulate people);
- intimacy (sexual interactions);
- rituals (transactions caused by stereotypes and external factors);
- entertainment (achieving certain goals for yourself);
- activity (receiving influence from others and achieving one’s goals).
The last three are called “honest” because they do not manipulate others. During the conversation, the psychotherapist helps build positive transactions without manipulative behavior. Games are an influence on people's behavior. We'll talk about them below.
Life scenarios of people
Every person lives according to a scenario set in childhood, Eric Berne argued. The psychology of people’s life scenarios directly depends on the positions adopted in childhood.
- A winner is a person who has achieved goals and involves others in the struggle. During therapy, such people reconsider their life positions and manipulative games, trying to build productive transactions without negatively influencing others.
- A defeated person is a person who constantly experiences failures and involves others in his troubles. Psychotherapy is very important for such people. In the process of conversation and analysis of transactions, such people understand the reasons for their failures in life. Clients are trained to respond correctly to problems, not to involve others in them, and to try to get out of constant problems.
- A “non-winner” is a loyal person who fulfills all his duties and tries not to strain the people around him. Understanding his life scenario in the process of psychotherapy, such a person makes certain decisions depending on his needs and goals.
We receive all scenarios (you can read more about them in the book written by Eric Berne, “The Psychology of Human Relationships, or Games People Play”) as a result of parental programming in early childhood. First, adopting them non-verbally, then using verbal messages. Over the course of life, they are forced out of consciousness, so a person may not even know what dictates his behavior. Therefore, with problems regarding life scenarios or conflict interactions, it is important to contact a psychotherapist who thoroughly knows the theory of transactional analysis.
Bern Eric
Eric Berne (real name Leonard Bernstein) was born on May 10, 1910 in the Canadian city of Montreal into the family of a practicing physician. His father died of tuberculosis at the age of 38, and his son decided, like his father, to connect his life with medicine: in 1935 he received his Doctor of Medicine degree from McGill University Medical School.
After finishing his internship in the USA, Leonard Bernstein worked for two years at Inglewood Hospital in New Jersey. Then he takes American citizenship and changes his name to the one under which he entered the history of psychology, Eric Berne. In 1940 he opened a private practice, and in 1941 he studied psychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. For some time (1943-1946) he was an army psychiatrist. After this, he studied psychoanalysis with Erik Erikson for two years. Moving away from traditional psychoanalysis, he develops his own method of psychotherapy, called “transactional analysis.”
One of Eric Berne's most famous works is Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy, a work that truly deserves to be called the basis and backbone of his theory. In this book, Berne outlined his vision of human relationships and mental pathology that develops on the basis of their problematic nature. Transaction theory was intended by the author as a method for analyzing psychopathology and treating patients with various mental illnesses, mainly of borderline status.
The basis of Eric Berne's teachings about transactions is, at first glance, a very simple idea known to every person, which consists of the following: each of us is in a state of play every day, almost every minute. Games accompany our lives constantly, not giving us the opportunity to free ourselves. Moreover, not a single person wants to get rid of them, unconsciously or even consciously generating more and more new game situations. We react to any event in our lives with one game or another; communication with the people around us also takes place in the form of games. Even standing in front of a mirror or having an internal silent conversation with ourselves, we play, distribute roles, adhere to one script or another.
What does the game actually represent? This is a kind of interaction, an act of communication, a unit of relationship between one person and another. In other words, the game is a transaction. Indeed, the ability to communicate with others like ourselves is perhaps that predominantly human property that distinguishes us from animals (one cannot say that animals do not communicate with each other, but the ability to verbalize attitudes towards others is unique to humans). Bern notes that observations of young children showed the following pattern in their behavior: children deprived of the ability to communicate were much more likely to suffer from mental illness, were characterized by general nervousness, and had communication problems in later life. Often such children got sick and even died. There have been cases where an outwardly prosperous child, quiet and calm, did not arouse parental interest and, therefore, deprived of a sufficient amount of care, found himself in sensory isolation and died from one or another disease. The parents tried to treat the child for the disease, completely unaware that the real cause of the disease was transactional insufficiency.
Similar phenomena are observed in adults who are deprived of a sufficient degree of attention and communication. Due to this deficiency, various mental disorders and abnormalities become possible. The most typical example here is the fate of criminals imprisoned in solitary confinement. It is important to note that lack of communication in adults, just like in children, can cause not only purely mental, but also somatic changes, i.e. various diseases, sometimes fatal. Berne writes that sensory starvation is a phenomenon in many ways similar to ordinary hunger: “Terms such as “undernourishment”, “satiation”, “gourmet”, “picky eater”, “ascetic”, “culinary art” and “a good cook,” can easily be transferred from the sphere of saturation to the sphere of sensation,” he quite rightly notes in his book “Games People Play.”
The problem of choosing a game is also related to this analogy. It is clear that each person chooses from a variety of games the one that is somewhat closer to him, which provides him with certain opportunities, gives him advantages, allows him to achieve what he wants, to receive a certain prize. As Byrne writes, the choice of game is ultimately determined by each person's personal taste. The totality of all games represents a kind of supplies from which dishes are made and a menu of human communication is compiled.
In order to understand what the mechanisms of transaction are, Bern undertook a detailed analysis of all forms of human communication, starting from their non-verbal level and ending with the games already mentioned above in all their diversity. After the analysis was carried out, the psychologist systematized his findings in the book “Games People Play,” which became a worldwide bestseller. In this work, in addition to theoretical considerations, Bern included a detailed analysis of the main types of games, dividing them into certain categories (lifelong games, marital games, party games, sex games, underworld games, games in the therapist’s office, good games), thereby covering almost all possible situations in which each of the people may find themselves.
Each game was analyzed according to several points: name (characterizes the essence of this type of game), thesis (the essence of the game), goal (what the person who chooses this type of game as the basis of behavior wants to achieve), roles (whose role is assumed by each of the participants in the game , how many participants there are), dynamics (how the game develops), examples, paradigm (description of the most important transactions at the social and psychological levels), moves (all possible actions for a given game), rewards (all types of pleasure, peace, stimulation and compensation received during this game), related games.
Where does the human need for play arise from? According to Berne, the initial infant sensory hunger transforms with age into a “need for recognition,” i.e. a person’s desire to be recognized, to be discovered among many other people with all their unique characteristics. The need for recognition can manifest itself with greater or lesser force, and depending on this, a person will more or less persistently strive to become known and to attract attention.
In the ultimate state, the need for recognition, splashed out by people during communication with each other, turns into a ritual action, repeated every time at each new meeting. Rituals that take on the burden of proper relationships become good manners, i.e. manners and etiquette, while rituals that do not aim to maintain what is accepted and acceptable between two people are marginalized, turning into deviant games (for example, criminal, some marital and sexual games).
It should be noted that as people get to know each other, the number of rituals of the first type decreases, the number of the second type increases. The rapprochement begins to be accompanied by the development by each participant of the transaction of an individual program of behavior, in which everyone is fixed in the desired roles. These programs chosen by each are the games themselves. It should be noted that only games as a result of close communication and recognition can satisfy the sensory hunger noted above, because ritualized communication “at a distance” does not give a person the opportunity to be understood in all his versatility and uniqueness.
According to Berne, each person has his own set of behavior patterns, which he develops starting in early childhood, and which he applies and acts out throughout his life. This set may include completely unrelated and even at first glance opposite roles and games, however, as analysis shows, in fact they perfectly complement each other and serve to be used in various life situations and states. There are three main states in total: “I” states, which are transformed and systematized images of father and mother; states of the “I” striving for objectivity, and states of the “I” representing the activation of behavioral archetypes accumulated in early childhood. Briefly Berne calls these three states "Parent", "Adult" and "Child". Thus, in each of us there are, as it were, three people at the same time, we are like someone who strives to be like his parents; we are like an independent adult and we are like a child. Pathologization of at least one of them leads to mental disorders and diseases.
These three states can be used separately or simultaneously in the game. The game always has a specific goal that the players strive for. In addition, each player has his own motive, which he hides. The desirability of the game is determined by the fact that at the end of it everyone will win. The possibility of winning is determined by the intentional intersection of transaction vectors by the players. For example, one of the players, having started as a child, can continue the game as an adult, thereby completely changing its course and outcome. Intersections can be very diverse, which determines the complexity of the game and its analysis conducted by a psychologist.
Of course, a game in which everyone strives for profit and a prize cannot be played fairly. It necessarily contains a catch, which can lead to truly dramatic endings. Often games can be completely joyless, even tragic. Thus, Bern calls war one of the darkest and most terrible games. The psychologist believes that people with an unbalanced psyche and a high level of anxiety are most susceptible to games. He identifies two main types of people who constantly play games: the grouch and the nonentity. The first is forced to constantly play anger at his mother, who did not pay enough attention to him in childhood. A nonentity is a person who is completely subordinated to their will by his parents, suppressed and pushed aside from an early age. These people, despite expecting attention from others, are themselves completely incapable of warmth and true intimacy, and for this reason their game can never be stopped.
In conclusion, Berne says that showing attention to each other often becomes a real burden for us, because, occupied exclusively with selfish interests, we forget about our neighbors and relatives. And most people are better off remaining gamblers, because if they try to get rid of their gambling addiction, they may hurt others with their callousness.
In 1970, Eric Berne suffered two heart attacks, the last of which, on July 15, resulted in the death of the scientist.
Eric Bern(real name Leonard Bernstein) was born on May 10, 1910 in the Canadian city of Montreal in the family of a practicing physician. His father died of tuberculosis at the age of 38, and his son decided, like his father, to connect his life with medicine in 1935, he received a doctorate Medicine at McGill University Medical School After completing his internship in the United States, Leonard Bernstein worked for two years at Inglewood Hospital in New Jersey. Then he takes American citizenship and changes his name to the one under which he entered the history of psychology - Eric Berne. In 1940 he opened a private practice, and since 1941 he studied psychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. For some time (1943-1946) he was an army psychiatrist. After this, he studied psychoanalysis with Erik Erikson for two years. Moving away from traditional psychoanalysis, he develops his own method of psychotherapy, called “transactional analysis.”
Transactional analysis is the analysis of interactions between two or more people.
The method created by Bern is divided into 4 stages: structural analysis-transactional analysis; game analysis; scenario analysis.
Eric Berne identified three states, personalities:
- Parent (P) is a complex of beliefs, moral norms and prejudices inherited from ancestors, the dictating and commanding part of the personality.
- Adult (B) - has nothing to do with a person’s age. This is the individual's ability to store, use and process information based on previous experience.
- The child (Re) lives in a person all his life and manifests itself even in old people, when they think, feel, react to the environment in the same way as they did in childhood. This is a very valuable part of the human personality, the most impulsive and sincere.
The purpose of structural analysis is mainly to provide answers to the questions: Who am I? Why am I doing this?
What part of my Self acts (or should act) in a given situation to bring benefit rather than defeat?
The transaction begins with a transactional stimulus - one or another sign indicating that the presence (or action) of one person is perceived by another. The person to whom the stimulus is addressed responds with some action - a transactional reaction.
All transactions are divided into:
- additional, when a stimulus sent by a person meets an adequate, natural reaction in a given situation. Are the most mature and healthy
- intersecting, when an inadequate response follows a certain stimulus.
- hidden - two-level transactions - angular and double, in which one level is visible - what is pronounced (social), and the second - hidden, or psychological - what is meant (subtext).
Psychological games are the most common form of social interactions, consisting of hidden transactions with a predictable outcome. Games have three mandatory features: 1) hidden motives with which you can manipulate your playing partner; 2) the plausibility of transactions in social terms; 3) winnings - “coupons”, which are the goal of the game.
There is one form of transaction that cannot be called a game, and that is sincerity.
According to the idea of themselves, about life, according to the ways of realizing their lives, all people can be divided into Winners (a person capable of being authentic (reliable)) and Losers (weak-willed, always suffering, exhausted and tormenting others, all their energy is spent on maintaining roles and masks, maintaining the status quo (original state of affairs).
A script is a person’s life plan, a drama, most often unconscious, but, as a rule, having clear patterns of stage drama: plot, action, climax and finale. The script starts in early childhood through transactions between parents and child.
A prescription is a program by which a person strives to achieve a goal. These are answers to the questions: “Who are you?”; “What is he capable of?”; “What should it be?”; “How to achieve this?” The instructions are learned from the parent of the opposite sex, and the method of execution, the way of life - from the parent of the same sex.
In childhood, another very important part of the worldview is formed - a favorite feeling. This is a dominant, basic emotion, which, like a conditioned reflex, can last a lifetime. Berne calls the property of using a favorite emotion transaction racket. The currency of the transaction racket - psychological coupons - are archaic feelings collected by the child state of the Self to manipulate others and gain.
Having received a “set” of information (experiences), made a decision and taken certain psychological positions, the person is ready to fulfill his life scenario. For a full-fledged life drama, other participants are needed that the person could manipulate.
The main tasks of transactional analysis are the reconstruction and creation of an autonomous personality, capable of understanding the components of one’s self and parting with destructive personality scenarios, having the courage to get out of the power of prejudices and false authorities, to abandon games and manipulating people. The goal of transactional analysis is to form an Adult ethical position in the patient, to teach him to become a Winner, responsible for himself, for everyone and for everything.
