Abstract
The author introduces a psychological game named TAMED – the TA Myth of Explanatory Depth, which she suggests provides an explanation of unhealthy dynamics occurring within transactional analysis membership and professional associations. She illustrates this with four case examples based on personal experiences. She also provides an overview of TA theory about psychological games, the bystander role, the various roles within the drama triangle and extensions of it, and the potency pyramid. She provides a selection of materials by TA and non-TA authors to support the premise that such games are more to do with organisational and group processes than the script of the individual who is seen as the cause of the conflict. The article concludes with some initial thoughts about how TA organisational diagrams need amending to reflect the structure and dynamics of professional associations.
Highlights
I have chosen to set the scene by including an email below as Illustration 1, in the hope that it will help the reader understand why the rest of the article has been written.In this article I will use case examples to show how the application uncritically of Berne’s original material leads to a game called TAMED - the TA Myth of Explanatory Depth
I am recognising that I may be Rescuing (Karpman 1968) because I am aware that recognising TAMED is even more important when the individual accused of playing the game is leading projects within the TA community
I will describe them before going on to provide an overview of the TA theories of psychological games, the bystander role, and the drama triangle and potency pyramid
Summary
I have chosen to set the scene by including an email below as Illustration 1, in the hope that it will help the reader understand why the rest of the article has been written. I am recognising that I may be Rescuing (Karpman 1968) because I am aware that recognising TAMED is even more important when the individual accused of playing the game is leading projects within the TA community This is because the public accusations exert psychological pressure on the volunteers involved in those projects to 'choose sides' and to risk being accused themselves. We need leadership that leads through introspection and acceptance of responsibility rather than projection and assignment of blame." (p.6) This was followed two months later by Minikin and Rowland (2020) inviting contributions to a future theme issue of the Transactional Analysis Journal based on Systemic Oppression: What Part Do We Play? It is interesting to consider that EATA is legally based in Switzerland but the EATA Council are proposing a change to the statutes so that the EATA President can in future served two terms of office of three years each – so someone can function as president of a whole country for a year, but to lead an association of about 8000 members needs six years
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