INTUITION AND EGO STATES: The Origins of Transactional Analysis

by Eric Berne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1977

Eight articles, all but one reprinted from The Psychiatric Quarterly or The American Journal of Psychotherapy, which reflect the emergence of Berne's theories between 1949 and 1962. In 1949, an analysand of Erikson and aspiring psychoanalytic candidate, he draws on the work of Reik and Bergson to introduce ideas on intuition, ideas partially triggered by experience with the standard army induction interview--a two-question quickie to determine fitness. By 1962, traditional training abandoned and Transactional Analysis hunched, he writes confidently and expansively on ""The Psychodynamics of Intuition"" from two points of view, pointing out possible shortcomings. In between one sees the coalescence of his own thoughts on preverbal cognitive processes, modes of communication, primal images and primal judgment--more substantive than many of the derivatives peddled today--and, in 1957, articulation of the adultchild-parent ego states and their use in therapeutic practice. The repertoire of games people play, which brought him national prominence in 1964, was observed as early as 1958. Addressed to other therapists, these articles are written in the professional idiom--with words like nosologic, scopophilia, and archaeopsychic--but determined general readers should have little difficulty. A representative selection.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION