BoARD no!e Encouraging Polite Discourse in a Leaderful ... · BoARD no!e Encouraging Polite Discourse in a Leaderful Community by John Heath 5+ C I (vol. 42 no. 3 march 2012 international

BoARD notes

Encouraging Polite Discoursein a Leaderful Community

by John Heath

SCRIPTthe

vol. 42 no. 3

march 2012

international transactional

analysis association

eaderful isn’t a standard Engl-ish word. It’s a made-up word,and I’m not the first to use it.

Shakespeare made up words all thetime, apparently, so there’s goodprecedent, though I don’t think hemade up this particular one. It hasemerged much more recently in litera-ture on organizational psychology.Despite the lead set by the bard, I tendto be cautious about wanderingbeyond the orthodox lexicon. I do thinkwe need a good case for making upnew words. Usually the old ones willdo. But I think there is a good casehere. I want to highlight a crucial fea-ture of the vitality of our ITAA commu-nity, and I want to encourage more ofit. For that I think I need this word.

Standard English permits us todescribe a group as leaderless, but notas leaderful. A leaderless group in itssimplest form is one with no leader,though, of course, a group can have aleader and still be leaderless in that noone is exercising the leadership func-tion. It is in this second sense, referringto function, that I am using the wordleaderful to describe our community. Idon’t mean we have a profusion ofpeople in leadership roles, I mean wehave a community in which it is thenorm to exercise the leadership func-tion. A quick scan of some organiza-tional literature warns me that, beforeI proceed, I must not confuse leader-ship with management. I think Berne

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in this issue

encouraging

Polite Discourse in a

Leaderful Community

1

iARtA Conference Focuses

on treatment of trauma

4

Celebrating ukraine’s

First PtstA

6

tAFsR summary of

social Action

8

Keeping in touch

10

Chennai Workshop

Presenters

12

will help mehere.

Berne wroteabout threekinds ofleader. Theresponsibleleader is the person with the jobtitle. The effective leader is the onewho actually sees that things get done.The psychological leader is the onepeople really follow. A single personcan take these roles or they can be dis-tributed among many people. In acommunity, it is often more helpful tothink of these concepts as groupprocesses rather than as group rolescarried by named individuals. That waywe can talk of responsible leadership,effective leadership, and psychologicalleadership, and, more importantly, wecan look for it to be exercised by anyindividual at any time.

So, how can we differentiate that frommanagement? In simple terms, we canthink of management, mostly, as thataspect of leadership that is exercised atthe social level. It rests with identifiedindividuals, usually in named roles, andit shows up in what people do to moveproblems toward solution. Manage-ment is thus part of leadership, butleadership is a much wider conceptthan management. Crucially, leader-ship is exercised also at the psychologi-cal level. The psychological level of a

International Transactional Analysis Association

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the burden of having to shoulder, inpart, every failure. This is the stuff ofresponsible leadership. But I alsofollow. When effective leadership isexercised, I respect it. When psy-chological leadership emerges, I amin-fluenced by it. I aspire never toforget my social-level role of respon-sible leader when I follow. Thatwould be to destabilize group struc-ture. Though I don’t relish the termmanagement, I guess it is a key partof managerial responsibility to stayaware of the social-level structure ofour organization, which forms thematrix for all of our group process asmembers. But leadership is thebusiness of all members, not justmine and the other nominated postholders.

Readers may be wondering by nowwhy I’m spreading all this out insuch detail. It’s because I want toencourage members to exercisetheir leadership. That will be thetrue expression of vitality in thisleaderful organization. Managing anorganization the size of the ITAAought not to be too taxing. We needto fulfill key tasks such as publishingour journal and newsletter, puttingon conferences, maintaining ourwebsite, keeping the books in order,and liaising with other key organiza-tions. These things can be time con-suming, but the tasks themselvesare not hard to define. And yet inpractice, the work of managing theITAA can become monumental. Sooften there are big issues rumblingbehind the tasks: issues of style,direction, power, and esteem. Ineffect, such issues form the psycho-logical-level conversation going onall the time about our theory, ourpractice, and its future in the world.Management should not and can-not control that conversation. Man-agement can suppress it or be sup-pressed by it. Neither is useful or

“With that small nod in the

direction of good manners, I have

no hesitation in urging members

to be fully active in this leaderful

community. We need this to

happen.”

necessary if we engage mindfully inleaderful debate.

A big issue right now, with more thanenough potential to stir the emo-tions, is our contribution to the widerdebate in the world on qualificationand examination in transactionalanalysis. Who looks after that in theITAA? Most people would say thatthe Training and Certification Council(T&CC) does that. That’s true, but doyou know that the T&CC is com-pletely separate from the ITAA interms of governance? We are widelyand erroneously seen as one organi-zation. Do you know that ITAA mem-bership participation in T&CC com-mittees is at a perilously low level?The T&CC has no members of itsown because it is not a membershiporganization, and without ITAAmembership participation, leader-ship in this essential field of activityis left to become a managementfunction. There is so much to thinkabout in this arena it cannot restwith a few post holders. Our col-leagues in the T&CC need our helphere. ITAA membership participationis vital. Please come forward if youare interested, either by approachingLorna Johnston or Anne de Graafdirectly or by letting me know of yourinterest. I will pass on all details ofinterest to where it will be of mostuse. As a test for whether you wantto do this, you might ask yourself ifyou are interested in questions suchas: How can we set training stan-dards appropriately when they areapplied in very different cultural set-tings around the world? Can we offer

process can operate outside ofawareness and be motivated uncon-sciously. That, of course, is where itcan be so unexpectedly creative andinspirational but also where it hasthe potential to go disastrouslywrong. People tend to speak outwhen they have strong feelings.Strong emotion motivating aprocess that is partly running out-side of conscious awareness doessometimes lead to trouble. If westay polite and respectful, then allwill be well, I think. With that smallnod in the direction of good man-ners, I have no hesitation in urgingmembers to be fully active in thisleaderful community. We need thisto happen.

In occupying the position of presi-dent of the ITAA, I am in the role ofthe responsible leader. People fre-quently ask me to affirm their deci-sions, come to a conclusion, or pointthe way ahead. I get the privilege ofhaving a part in every success and

newsletter of the international transactionalAnalysis Association2843 Hopyard Rd., Suite 155Pleasanton, CA 94588, USAFax: 925-600-8112 email: [email protected] Website: www.itaaworld.org

editor: Laurie Hawkes, MAManaging editor: Robin Fryer, MSWDesktop Publishing: lockwood design

Deadlines—first of the month prior to themonth of publication (e.g., 1 March for theApril issue).

Advertising: Twelfth page: $50; sixth page:$100; third page: $200; half page: $300; fullpage: $400. Publication of advertising in TheScript does not imply endorsement by thenewsletter, the editor, or the ITAA.

The Script (ISSN 0164-7393) is publishedmonthly by the International TransactionalAnalysis Association. For information on mem-bership, visit www.itaaworld.org or contact theITAA at the above address. © 2012 Interna-tional Transactional Analysis Association, Inc.

thesCRiPt

Solomon has just had the recordingpreserved and enhanced in CD form.Many thanks go to Carol for organiz-ing that. I haven’t listened to any ofit yet. I shall be sending it on tothose busy with the creation of con-tent pages for our website and amhopeful that fairly soon memberswill be able to hear Eric himselfteaching his own stuff before itbecame a global phenomenon. Itwill be interesting to see if it gives usnew insights into the great man’smind, or whether it shows us howfar things have moved on since hewas among us. I suspect, and hope,that it will be a mixture of the two.

ority area for more member involve-ment. There are other areas if thatone is not for you, so please don’tfeel restricted. Let me know whatyou’re interested in. I will certainlysee that colleagues on the board oftrustees are informed of your inter-est, along with any questions andobservations you might like tomake. We’re doing all we can at amanagement level to facilitate par-ticipation, and we are investing a lotof hope in the potential of the newwebsite to create opportunities forinteraction.

I have a small but tantalizing pieceof breaking news that might encour-age people to browse the website.Just arrived in the post at my houseis an audio recoding of Eric Berneteaching a TA 101 in 1963. Carol


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John Heath is ITAA President. He can be

reached at [email protected] .

S

The Evolution of a TA Therapist

by Morris Haimowitz

From the orange groves in Florida, to race riots in Chicago

From recycling garbage inHawaii to teaching at the University of Chicago

In the 1950s with Carl Rogers, the 1960s with EricBerne, the 1970s with Fritz Perls and the Gouldings

Speaking up about the economic, educational andmedical systems that oppress us

365 pages, hard cover, $27ONLY BOOKS, 5135 Manila Ave., Oakland, CA 94618

“Leadership is the business of all

members, not just mine and the

other nominated post holders. . . .

I want to encourage members to

exercise their leadership. That will

be the true expression of vitality in

this leaderful organization.”

an examination service to new andpotentially large transactionalanalysis communities such as inChina and other countries? How canwe best support the cause of trans-actional analysis training in theUnited States and make formalqualification more attractive there?

These are vital and exciting ques-tions. If people are not willing totake part in answering them, theremust be a reason. Perhaps we needa groupthink about this. I would beglad to hear any views on that andwill pass them on to colleagues.Vladimir Goussakovski and I fromthe ITAA and Lorna Johnston andAnne de Graaf from the T&CC haveformed a working party to beginlooking at some of these importantissues. Your input to the process iswelcome. From my vantage point, itseems clear that we need to bringenergy to this sphere of activity.Otherwise other organizations in theworld will take the lead. If the ITAAis to keep a voice in the internationalcommunity on matters to do withqualification and training, then weneed the T&CC to flourish. Thoughthe T&CC is separate from us, with-out it the ITAA would be a differentkind of organization and that wouldcertainly change our membershipprofile. Leaderful participation isreally the only way forward.

I hope I’ve got members thinkingabout how they might participate inleading the ITAA. I’ve concentratedon T&CC matters as an example,partly because I know it to be a pri-

tA Conferences Worldwide

he Second Conference ofthe International Associa-

tion of Relational TransactionalAnalysis (IARTA) took place on 1October 2011 in London and was ahuge success. Seventy people gath-ered at the NVCO in Kings Cross.The theme of the conference was“Inside Out: A Relational Transac-tional Analysis Approach to Trau-ma.” We were richly stimulated bypresentations on trauma from JoStuthridge of New Zealand and JeanMaquet of France. These were inter-spersed by clinical discussion groups.

Jo’s presentation was titled “Travers-ing the Fault Lines: A RelationalApproach to the Treatment of Trau-ma.” She talked about the chal-lenges we face as therapists as weset out to transform the experienceof trauma, as we “traverse the faultlines in therapy” without falling intothe abyss of traumatic repetition.Using powerful client examples, Jodescribed how in therapy, traumaemerges as transferential enactmentthat creates ruptures between clientand therapist and linked this to themetaphor of the abyss, which repre-sents a collapse of reflective space.

Emma Haynes, a psychotherapystudent at the Metanoia Institute,who is currently preparing for herCTA exams, offered a brief response

of the self into the client’s consciousawreness. Using examples from herown work, Jo described how she seesan enactment as an intersectionbetween the two scripts of client andtherapist wherein the vulnerabilitiesof each become interlocked.

While enactments can and inevi-tably do provoke bad feelings suchas shame and betrayal in bothclients and therapists, they alsooffer an opportunity for healing.When the therapist is willing toreflect on the mess that follows andto find a way to communicate his orher understanding, what is implicitis made available for explicit under-standing. Jo suggested that sharedunderstanding occurs with “an actof recognition” (a crossed transac-tion that creates a disjuncture, dis-turbing the client’s script). Resolu-tion of the enactment helps to forma bridge between tentative states ofself. This process increases theclient’s capacity to contain internal

to Jo’s presenta-tion:

I was struck bythe photographsshown to us byJo of her home-town, Christ-church in NewZealand, in theaftermath of the recent earth-quake and its parallel to trau-ma. I had the sense as Iwatched of irreparable damageto Christchurch and its inhabi-tants physically, emotionally,and psychologically. Jo linkedthis to the damage of relation-al trauma to the child and howthis forms fault lines within themind of the traumatized child,fracturing the ego almost likethe way an egg shell fractureswhen cracked.

Jo explained how in response to rela-tional trauma, which is a gross viola-tion of the self, children can becomestuck in a state of unbearable affect.Faced with this intolerable situation,they cut off part of the self to survive—or, in other words, defend theirsanity by dissociation. Jo explainedher belief that, in the treatment oftrauma, enactment is both in-evitable and necessary because itserves to bring the dissociated parts

IARTA Conference Focuses on Treatmentof Trauma

by Heather Fowlie

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“Jo explained her belief

that, in the treatment of

trauma, enactment is

both inevitable and nec-

essary because it serves

to bring the dissociated

parts of the self into the

conscious awareness of

the client.”

who does not trust contact.

Jean believes that “the frame” (thebusiness contract in transactionalanalysis) provides a set of constantsfor the patient and becomes thecontainer of the therapy process,thus supporting symbolization. Hesuggested that most acting out inthe therapeutic relationship occursaround the frame: coming early,refusing to leave, forgetting pay-ment, going over time, phoning thetherapist in between sessions, andso on. Jean believes that if the thera-pist can accept challenges to theframe, without retaliation or col-lapse, and use this as the basis formeaning making with the patient,then the latter will come to trust inthe constant and safe nature of thetherapeutic relationship, viewingand internalizing the symbol of theframe (object) as something usefuland containing for him or her. Jeanused a moving account of his workwith a traumatized patient to illus-trate his presentation.

Briony Nichols described how eachof the two hour-long presentationswas followed by a short question-and-answer session then hour-longdiscussion groups. “These smallfacilitated groups gave us delegatestime to discuss the presentations inthe light of our own clinical experi-ences, integrating the learning andexpanding on some of the themesthat had been presented. This madethe conference a deeply reflectiveone, as the richness of the clinicaland theoretical material evolvedthroughout the day.”

After a wonderful lunch, we finishedwith a well-attended AGM and over-whelming support for another con-ference next year.

Videos of both presentations are onthe members’ area of the IARTAwebsite at www.relationalta.com . S

conflict, symbolize, and express pre-viously dissociated parts of the selfso that they can be integrated.

Briony Nichols, a Provisional Teach-ing and Supervising TransactionalAnalyst who attended the confer-ence, also gave her views:

Jo discussed how trauma pro-duces intrapsychic fracturingand dissociation. In this way, acoherent self-narrative is sacri-ficed in order to maintain arelationship and prevent inter-nal conflict. When these intra-psychic fault lines are retrig-gered, the trauma will emergeas a transferential enactmentthat can threaten the thera-peutic relationship. Jo present-ed case examples of her workwith these fractures—“tra-versing the fault lines’ in theinterpersonal realm. In particu-lar, she discussed the attentionshe pays to assaults on thetherapeutic frame, where theseenactments often emerge.

Jean’s presentation was titled “Howthe Therapy of Patients Who WereAbused in Childhood Creates Para-doxes in the Therapeutic Relation-ship.” He talked about his work withsurvivors of child abuse andexplained how he considers thetherapeutic relationship to be themain vehicle of therapeutic change.Focusing on “relational paradoxes,”he offered a framework for under-standing and containing paradoxi-cal experiences in the therapist-patient relationship. Within this, heconsidered four dimensions—con-tact-working alliance, contract,emotions, and countertransfer-ence—and linked each of these totheir role in helping a traumatizedclient to learn how to symbolize andto manage his or her shame.

Emma Haynes also commented:

Jean suggested that workingwith those who have beentraumatized is similar totouching someone who hasbeen burned: Contact hurts. Infact, he suggested that theyhave been burned, psychologi-cally burned, and their fear ofbeing burned again createsmany difficulties during thetreatment. “As psychothera-pists, we have to accept to livethis relationship in its paradox-ical nature and not try toresolve the paradox . . . but to(almost) let it resolve by itself.”Continuing the metaphor, hesuggested that to rebuild thepsychic tissue that has beenburned, traumatized clientsneed to relearn how to symbol-ize. He defined symbolizationas the psychic internalizationof an object, which allows thebaby to replace the motherwith a comforting object whenshe is not there, somethingthat is very difficult for anyonewho has been traumatized and


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“Jean believes that ‘the

frame’ (the business contract

in transactional analysis)

provides a set of constants for

the patient and becomes the

container of the therapy

process, thus supporting

symbolization.”

tA Around the Globe

eaders of The Script have seen articles over the years

telling of the progress of transactionalanalysis in the Ukraine. Thomas Ohls-son, PhD, TSTA-P, from Malmo, Swe-den, led the first TA 101 in the Ukrainein 1997. His colleague Roland Johns-son, TSTA-P, led two more TA 101s inearly 1998, and their colleague AnnikaBjork, TSTA-P, led the fourth TA 101in the fall of 1998. The UkrainianAssociation of Transactional Analysis(UATA) registered as an official organi-zation in 2000, which allowed UATAto become an affiliated member ofEATA in 2000. In 2001 VladimirGoussakovski, PTSTA-P from St.Petersburg, and the following year, hiscolleague Yelena Soboleva, PTSTA-Pfrom St. Petersburg, began teachingtheir ongoing transactional analysisprograms in Ukraine. In 2008, Kateri-na Bulgakova (KB) became a CertifiedTransactional Analyst (CTA) and thenin 2011 a Provisional Teaching andSupervising Transactional Analyst(psychotherapy), which means that forthe first time, the Ukraine has begungrowing its own group of CTAs andtransactional analysis teachers. To cele-brate this major transactional analysisevent in the Ukraine, NadyezhdaIvanovna Spassenko (NIS), a 36-yearmember the ITAA who establishedtransactional analysis in the Ukraine,interviewed Katerina about how thisjourney was for her.

too structured and dry. But afterlong deliberation, I decided toattend the second seminar in the202 program. It was on ego states,and I became interested in thematerial, especially since I liked thegroup of primarily psychologists andpsychiatrists. I gradually becameimmersed in transactional analysis,and my interest increased with eachseminar. Vladimir presented thematerial in a structured way, whichwas important for me, and his self-assurance and interest in themethod impressed me. He wasknowledgeable and a wise teacherand reliable mentor. The knowledgeI gained was practical and easily fitinto my style of psychological coun-seling. I had no thought of becom-ing certified, but eventually I decid-ed to sign the CTA contract, eventhough I was certain nothing wouldcome of all this. This lack of faith inmy own possibilities was a powerfullimiting factor in my script.

In parallel with my study withVladimir, I took part in seminars ledby transactional analysis masterswho were invited by you to theUkraine. My meetings with ValerieLankford, Steven Karakashian, MaryGoulding, and Mary Cox made per-manent impressions on me. Muchchanged in me because just thestudy of transactional analysis is

NIS: Hello, Katerina! You were aparticipant in Vladimir Goussakovs-ki’s 2001 TA 101. Do you rememberwhat your thoughts were then?

KB: I first discovered TA in 1999. Iattended a 101 course, and to behonest, transactional analysis didnot impress me at first. It seemed

Celebrating Ukraine’s First PTSTA: An Interview with Katerina Bulgakova

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Katerina Bulgakova

Nadyezhda Ivanovna

Spassenko

therapeutic, and I also received psy-chotherapy from them. I becameaware of my life script and made thedecision to change it. My first stepin this process was to commit tobecoming a CTA. This required agreat deal of effort, energy, breakingup my script stereotypes, and timeand money, but it was worth it!Vladimir supported me and helpedwith his professional supervision. Ifelt I was growing personally andintellectually. Transactional analysisbecame more transparent for me,and I was elated as I understoodmore and more of what I sawthanks to the method.

NIS: Thanks to you, 1304 TA 101certificates have now been grantedin the Ukraine, and you have led 92participants to theirs. We celebratedour 1000th and 1001st TA 101 cer-tificates some time ago, and it lookslike we will be celebrating our2000th and 2001st certificates inthe not-too-distant future. Whereare you teaching TA 202 coursesnow and what are the futureprospects in this area?

KB: Writing the CTA exam is aschool of personal change anddevelopment, and I am most grate-ful to all those who had a part in it:Eric Berne for creating transactionalanalysis, EATA for creating the certi-fication process, you for bringingtransactional analysis to theUkraine, Vladimir Goussakovski forhis wise and sensitive guidance, mygroup for their support, and myclients for being. When I passed theexam, I experienced an unbelievablesense of euphoria. This was a realvictory! It was a victory over myselfand all my injunctions and negativeprogramming. This was a true com-ing into the Adult and freeing of theChild’s uninhibited joy of life!

Once I was certified, I took to per-fecting my work with clients and

NIS: What do you think needs tobe done for transactional analysis tocontinue reaching more people inthe Ukraine?

KB: We need more of our own CTAsand TSTAs. I know one trainee isscheduled to stand for the CTAexam, and 15 individuals have com-pleted 4 years of transactionalanalysis training and have registeredCTA contracts. An all-Ukrainiantransactional analysis conferencewould be beneficial. At present thereis a wave of interest in transactionalanalysis all over the Ukraine, andUATA membership has doubled inthe last 2 years. An important stim-ulus for this is the enthusiasm of ourUATA president, Zarina Sevalneva.You also continue to be an enliven-ing source for transactional analysisin the Ukraine. With more enthusi-asts such as you and Zarina, trans-actional analysis would spread evenfaster in the Ukraine. My wish is thatas many people as possible becomefamiliar with transactional analysisin the Ukraine.

NIS: Thank you for sharing yourstory with us, Katrina. It is a touch-ing testimony to the power of trans-actional analysis to contribute to theblossoming of human potentialwithin each of us. May you continueblossoming forth with your potentialfor a long time to come.

could now practice true psychother-apy instead of just consultation asbefore. But quite soon this did notseem like enough. I wanted to tryteaching, so I began to teach the101. Remembering my own impres-sions from the 101, I tried to present

in as lively a manner as possible,demonstrating TA’s practicality inorder to motivate participants. Itold them about myself, my journey,what transactional analysis gave mepersonally, and examples from mypractice. The results were not bad.To date I have taught four TA 101sin Kyiv and one each in Sevastopoland Chernivtsy. These have resultedin a new TA 202 group in Kyiv, whichVladimir and I teach jointly, and agroup in the Crimea in Sevastopol.There are plans to hold another TA101 in Kyiv in the fall of 2011 andperhaps another in Uzhgorod.

Having begun to teach at the 202level with Vladimir, I felt both thestrength and potential within me tobecome a trainer. In addition, havingparticipated in several cascadesupervisions with Vladimir, I beganto visualize myself as being success-ful in this role also. Suddenly therewas an opportunity to participate ina Training Endorsement Workshop inKrakow, and so I became a PTSTA-P.Presently, I continue teaching withVladimir and independently in Sev-astopol. I plan to organize my owngroup in Kyiv and dream of opening agroup for supervision, possibly inSevastopol. I also want to increasemy practice of individual supervision,possibly with the decrease of my psy-chotherapeutic work.


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Nadyezhda Ivanovna Spassenko, UATA

President from 2000-2009, can be

reached at a/s 12, Pereyaslav-Khmel’

nyts’kyi, Kyivs’ka oblast’ 08402, Ukraine;

email: [email protected] .

Katerina Bulgakova can be reached at

[email protected] .

“At present there is a wave of interest

in transactional analysis all over the

Ukraine, and UATA membership

has doubled in the last 2 years.”

update on social Responsibility

n response to my call to Transactional Analysts for

Social Responsibility (TAFSR) mem-bers for brief reports of their role inaddressing social issues up to thestart of 2012, from all corners of theglobe many transactional analystscame forward to describe how theyare addressing social issues. Manyof them are thinking and acting out-side the four-cornered box of trans-actional analysis “fields” (counsel-ing, psychotherapy, education, andorganizations) by actively reachingout to exercise their influence on thesocial reality that surrounds them.At times they may not be able toclearly delineate their role as“transactional analyst” from theirrole as concerned citizen. However,to the degree that we are promotingOK-OK relationships, encouragingautonomy, confronting covert com-munications in social transactionsand unproductive games, modifyingunhealthy scripts, helping peopleout of drama triangles into solvingproblems, and confronting unjuststroke economies, we are operatingas transactional analysts. In 2011 Ihad already reported on the Bilbaoconference panel on social/culturalapplications of transactional analy-

on reaching consensus in a crowd (ageneral assembly meeting of theOccupy San Francisco group), usingtransactional analysis in coachingpractice, and other links. Besideshaving participated in antiwardemonstrations, she is activelyinvolved in putting pressure onadministration and congressionalDemocrats to enact legislation pro-tecting people from indefinitedetainment and ending unfair cor-porate funding of elections.

I met recently with a group belong-ing to Therapists for Social Respon-sibility (TSR) and Psychologists forSocial Responsibility (PsySR) inSacramento, California, to addresshow we as healers can contributeour support for the many grassrootsmovements against socialinequities. As the lone representa-tive of TAFSR, I realized a certainsense of powerlessness in my role.Subsequently, I put in a request toVladimir Goussakovski, ITAA Vice

sis (see the March and August 2011issues of The Script) where welearned of the work of VladimirGoussakovski (Russia), MarcoMazzetti (Italy), John Monk-Steel(UK), Keith Tudor (New Zealand),and Eva Sylvie Rossi (Italy).

This current report brings us up todate. Even when we cannot besocially active for one reason oranother, many transactional ana-lysts express support for the missionof TAFSR. Laurie Hawkes, Abe Wag-ner, Mary Westphal, Fanita English,and others report that they may notbe out on the streets with the Occu-py Movement and with the crowdsof protesters rallying against eco-nomic inequality, but they are vitallyinterested in promoting greatersocial responsibility and positivesocial change. Chuck Holland in theUnited States reminds us that heviews himself as a perennial “socialactivist” in every group he has everbeen a part of, whether as leader orparticipant. As an example, in theface of challenges from a group ofconservative high school classmatesfrom years ago who do not take tookindly to his liberal thinking evennow, he maintains his stanceagainst racial prejudice.

Lucy Freedman, also of the UnitedStates, has a “Syntax of Influence”program. Her website has articles

TAFSR Summary of Social Action

by Leonard P. Campos

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“From all corners of the globe, many

transactional analysts came forward

to describe how they are addressing

social issues. Many of them are

thinking and acting outside the

four-cornered box of transactional

analysis ‘fields.’ ”

President of Operations, for budgetsupport from the board of trusteesto help build a website that mightbe more effective than the currentinformal email network.

Other transactional analysts areinvolved in resolving social issues.In the undeveloped field of transac-tional analysis in political science,Jorge Close of Argentina reportsthat as a transactional analysisorganizational consultant he isinvolved in coaching political candi-dates to support equal opportunity,freedom of the press, liberty ofexpression, and reducing social-economic differences. He helpsresolve personal issues of candi-dates that can interfere with theireffectiveness in campaigns. As aconsultant to a nongovernmentalorganization (Equidad), he address-es social differences caused by tech-nological developments. He helpsto implement computer literacy pro-grams in low-income school sys-tems. Jorge is a good example ofhow a transactional analyst canwork with local governmental bod-ies as he works contracting with theSocial Secretary of Buenos Aires toprovide technical job opportunitiesfor unemployed youth.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, Gloria Norie-ga also reports an interest in politi-cal campaigns and will sign lettersand petitions against violence andcorruption. Diane Salters of SouthAfrica is actively involved in address-ing political issues such as recent

get parents more socially involved inlocal schools.

In the field of pastoral counseling,Leslie Joan Poulin, a Lutheran pastorserving part time in an inner-citymission ministry in Winnipeg, Mani-toba, Canada, reports using transac-tional analysis in working with thepoor, homeless, addicted, mentallyill, mentally challenged, and otherswho have not had a positive rolemodel for parenting in their life.

These are only a few of the exam-ples of how transactional analysts,as therapists, educators, pastors,and organizational consultants, arecurrently addressing many of thesocial issues that remain unre-solved. There are, of course, manyother transactional analysts aroundthe world doing so. If you are one ofthese, please let me know aboutyour work by contacting me at [email protected] .

attempts to restrict freedom of thepress. She and other South AfricanTransactional Analysis Associationcolleagues engage in social actionssuch as attending rallies, writing let-ters to the press, and so on.

There are many transactional ana-lysts who address economicinequality in their clinical practices.At her institute in Mexico, Gloria hasa low-fee “Psychotherapy for Every-one” program run by advancedtransactional analysis trainees withongoing supervision. John Monk-Steel in the United Kingdom alsoprovides a low-cost therapy pro-gram for socially disadvantaged,less-able-to-pay clients, with a spe-cial interest in service veterans whohave posttraumatic stress disorderor other traumas. Diane Salters ofSouth Africa has committed herselfto narrowing the opportunity gapbetween rich and poor across racialand gender lines. She offers subsi-dized or free training opportunitiesto individuals from disadvantagedcommunities as well as mentoringsupport for young people. SusannaLigabue of Milan, Italy, also reportsan active interest in social issues.Working with a nonprofit coopera-tive, she and her colleagues providefree services to migrants andrefugees in cooperation with localpublic health and social services.

In the area of education, KarenPratt of Cape Town, South Africa,together with her transactionalanalysis trainees, coordinates atransactional analysis interventionprogram with teachers in threetownship schools in one of thetoughest gang areas. She hashelped to develop an awards pro-gram for teachers who show themost effectiveness. From Osaka,Japan, comes a report from TomokoAbe, who has developed a “TA Caféfor Moms and Dads” designed to


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Upcoming

TAJ Theme Issues

“Counseling and transactional Analysis”

Guest editor: Sylvie MoninDeadline for Manuscripts:

1 July 2012

“transactional Analysis and Children”

Guest editors: Marco Mazzetti,Güdrun Jecht-Hennig, and

Dolores Munari PodaDeadline for Manuscripts:

1 July 2013

Please follow the submissionrequirements posted at http://

itaaworld.org/index.php/knowledge-zone/ taj/taj-submission-requirements.

Email manuscripts to TAJ Managing Editor Robin Fryer, MSW, at

[email protected].

Contacting the ITAAitAA

2843 hopyard Rd., suite 155

Pleasanton, CA 94588

united states

email: [email protected]

Fax: 510-600-8112

skype address: ken.fogleman

Keeping in touch

Roland Johnsson defended hisdoctoral thesis, “TransactionalAnalysis Psychotherapy: ThreeMethods Describing a TransactionalAnalysis Group Therapy,” on 18November 2011 in public at LundUniversity in Sweden. The opponentwas a well-known psychology pro-fessor, Håkan Jenner. He led the dis-cussion with the respondenttogether with a chairperson, threeprofessors on an examinationboard, and an audience of about100 people. Roland writes that“Professor Jenner’s style was reflec-tive, open, careful, and scientificallyrigorous. He opened the defensewith a humorous glimpse by ‘mak-ing a mutual contract’ with me con-cerning the process. We agreed toshare information and clarify scien-tific dilemmas and not find faults ina persecuting way.” Roland beganby making a short presentation ontransactional analysis and his work,which consisted of three projectsbased on weekly year-long grouptherapy with 10 clients. Because hewas the therapist in the investigat-

ference 23-24 March 2012 in Syd-ney, Australia. The theme is “Alliesand Enemies: The Role of Real andMetaphoric Siblings in Our Psycho-logical Worlds,” and the keynotespeaker is Bill Cornell. ConferenceConvener Jo Frasca says that theconference will consider “the impactof siblings and how these relation-

ed group, there were questionsrelating to independent observers,allegiance, objectivity, adherence,the dichotomy between researchand practice, and, of course, validityand reliability problems. All thesescientific considerations were dis-cussed from a wide philosophicalviewpoint down to specific details.Roland thinks this scientific rigorwas due to the lack of TA’s credibili-ty in the academic world andacceptance of transactional analysisand TA psychotherapy as a part ofaccumulated scientific knowledge.Thus the examiners demanded acloser examination of the compli-ance of the thesis with academicresearch requirements. The defensewent well, and the examinationboard unanimously approvedRoland’s thesis. Congratulations,Roland!

The Australian Centre for Inte-grative Studies is hosting a con-


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Roland Johnsson (right) and

Professor Jenner at Roland’s

defense of his doctoral thesis

Richard Erskine (front center) and members of the Lyon, France, training group

in integrative/relational transactional analysis on 20 October 2011 at the final

session of a 6-year training program that had met for two 5-day sessions

each year since 2006. Several of the members are now Certified

Transactional Analysts.

Roland Johnsson enjoys hearing

that his doctoral thesis was

unanimously approved.

ships translate into horizontaltransferences (sibling to sibling).”This will be an integrative gatheringthat brings together differentmodalities, and while the presenta-tions will use a relational platformof theories, philosophies, andmethodologies, they will drawattention to other perspectives aswell. For more information and toregister, visit www.acissydney.com.au or email [email protected] .

Copy of TAB Wanted: Steve Cos-grove of Auburn, Alabama, USA,would like to obtain a copy of thebound issues of the TransactionalAnalysis Bulletin. If you can help,please contact him at [email protected] .

IN MEMORIAM

Anne Teachworth passed awayon 10 February 2012 following a

struggle withstomach can-cer, which wasdiagnosed lastJune. Amemorialservice washeld inMetairie,Louisiana, a

week later. Phyllis Jenkins describesAnne as “a force of nature, a trueinnovator, beloved by all whotrained with her, an independentthinker, and one of my very bestfriends both collegially and person-ally. We spent hours talking aboutpsychogenetics, writing about,struggling (even fighting) about ourtheories of mind. We spent an equalamount of time playing together(dinners, listening to jazz, longwalks in New Orleans or whatevercity we were in). She poweredthrough finishing another bookbefore she died. History Repeats Itself


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Steve Karpman, TSTA, did three 3-day workshops in Eastern Europelast summer. In August he was in Kiev, Ukraine, and then at Ryazan Uni-versity near Moscow. They both have emerging transactional analysisorganizations. He did a third one in Krakow, Poland, in July. Steve writes,“All three groups were gracious and knowledgeable and very interestedin transactional analysis.”

Kiev group with Steve Karpman (back row standing to the right of the

flip chart full of drama triangles) and Zarina Sevalneva (far right

standing), sponsor and organizer for the Ukrainian TA Association.

Group at workshop in Ryazan near Moscow, Russia. Steve Karpman is

seated in front with his sponsor, Dmitri Shustov, MD, TSTA,

on his right.

is about family transgenerationalpatterns and will be availablethrough her website. I talked withher frequently during this journeyand battle with cancer. She wouldsay, ‘I’m tired of talking about me;how are you?’ In our years of friend-ship, when either of us experiencedloss, we talked philosophically of

death and dying. She was not afraidto die having lived a full life.” Annewas the director of the Gestalt Insti-tute of New Orleans, a relationshipcounselor, an international gestaltand neurolinguistic programmingtrainer, a member of the ITAA, andthe author of Why We Pick the MatesWe Do.

itAA news

CHENNAI, INDIA 9 TO 11 AUGUST 2012 HOTEL GRT GRAND

Organizers: ITAA and SAATAHost: Poornam – Institute for

Holistic DevelopmentSecond early-bird registration

deadline: 8 May 2012

WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONSMaria Ulrika Widen (Italy), “Ideas OfTAPACY (TA Award for Children andYoung People)”

K. Raguraman (India), “Pile of Sand orIntegrated Whole”

Mandy Lacy (Australia), “Play at Work”Rajarathnam Suryakumar (India), “Let’sPlay—Work/Life Balance”

Sumathi Narayanan (India), “Unblock toPlay”

Jaseem Koorankot (India), “TA Model ofDepression (Hypothetical)”

Rebecca Trautmann (USA), “Play andRelationship Needs”

Mohanraj I A (India), “Ah to Aha”N. Michel Landaiche, III (USA), “Listen-ing for the Trouble in Our Groups”

Chitra Ravi (India), “Working withImpasses: The Play Between TwoPolarized Parts”

Roland Johnsson (Sweden), “TA Psy-chotherapy Research: Three MethodsDescribing a TA Group Therapy”

Sumitra Gautama (India), “Contact inRelationship: Key to Facilitating theActive Learner”

Theo Van der Heijden (Netherlands),“Third-Order Symbiosis”

Lucy Freedman (USA), “Am I Safe and Isthis Fun?: How to Make CorporateLearning Kid Friendly”

Sailaja Manacha (India), “Balancing Nur-ture and Structure for Children”

David Gibson (Ireland), “Use the Brain toBe a Therapist”

Geetha Manoharan (India), “Poornam:Let’s Play with the Wholeness of Life”

Cecilia Waldekranz (Italy), “Let’s Play withOur Bodies in Supervision”

Izumi Kadomoto (Japan), “Play of Mean-ing, Meaning of Play”

Karen Pratt (S. Africa), “Tapping into Life-Giving Forces: Using AppreciativeInquiry to Contract with a Group”

K. J. Joseph (India), “Joyful Empowerment”Abe Wagner (USA), “Transactional Lead-ership”

Sashi Chandran (India), “Responsible Playthrough Contacting and Contracting”

Lorna Houston (S. Africa), “Reconnectingwith the Inner Self: Using TA toEmpower and Support Caring Com-munities in the HIV/AIDS Sector”

Ann Heathcote (UK), “Yearning to Write:Let’s Play”

Pushpa B. N. (India), “Fun Tools for Learn-ing”

William Cornell (USA), “Play at Your OwnRisk”

Marijke Wusten (Netherlands), “OpeningOur Hearts Again”

Marina Joseph (India), “Let’s Play It Out atTeaching”

Salma Siddique (UK), “Playing withWords: Healing through MythicalScripts, Cultural Stories, and SacredNarratives”

Joanna Beazley Richards (UK), “UsingBerne’s Energy Theory to Enable Trau-ma Victims to Play Again”

Sabine Klingenberg (Germany), “LifeMeets Ethics”

Moniek Thunnissen (Netherlands), “Lifeas a Therapeutic Journey”

Suriyaprakash C (India), “Action Learning:Let’s Play with Our Adult”

Susan George (India), “Life: Let’s Affirm It”


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Call for ITAABoard NominationsThe following positions are open fornominations.

Deadline: 31 May 2012

Officers (nominations allowed fromany region and elected at large by allITAA voting members)

n President-Elect (2013)

n Vice President Operations (2013-2015)

n Vice President Research & Innovation (2013-2015)

n Treasurer (2013-2015)

Regional Trustees (nominationand election only by members of theregion)

n North America (2013-2015)

n Africa (2013-2015)

n Latin America (2013-2015)

Nominations require the name andconsent signature of the nominee (itmay be yourself), the name of theperson making the nomination, andthe name of the person secondingthe nomination. To be eligible fornomination, trustees may not havealready served two consecutiveterms of office in any position on theboard. Position statements (char-ters) that describe the function andselection criteria for each of the offi-cer positions are available from theITAA or in the Guidelines (part ofthe official documentation) on theITAA website at www.taworld.org .Nominees are encouraged to readand understand these beforeaccepting nomination.

Send nominations to ITAA Nomina-tions Chair Sumithra Sharatkumarat [email protected] .

Documents

BoARD no!e Encouraging Polite Discourse in a Leaderful ... · BoARD no!e Encouraging Polite Discourse in a Leaderful Community by John Heath 5+ C I (vol. 42 no. 3 march 2012 international