In Praise of Loving “Betrayal”: Reflections on the Steiner—Novellino Letters and the Life of Behavioral Science Organizations

Abstract

As a reviewer for the Transactional Analysis Journal (TAJ), in October 2004 the author read the Steiner-Novellino correspondence, which was being considered for publication in the April 2005 theme issue on “Transactional Analysis and Psychoanalysis.” In this article, he uses his unfolding feelings and thoughts on reading it–in his roles as TAJ reviewer and as a member and officer of the International Transactional Analysis Association (ITAA)–as a starting point for reflecting on the relationship between tradition and innovation, integrity, betrayal, and the vitality, or lack thereof, of behavioral science organizations.