Siew Lian Transactionally Analysed

Introduction

Siew Lian who is in her mid-thirties, is the client in the case I will be writing on in this essay. I will employ the Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy approach to analyse and discuss how Siew Lian can be helped to improve on her personal functioning and interpersonal relationships. For a start, I will attempt to understand the basic Life Position of Siew Lian as a result of early decisions made growing up. This will lead to an in-depth look into Siew Lian’s Early Scripts revealing how Drivers & Underlying Injunctions received in her formative years were interpreted. Next, Siew Lian’s Functional Ego-States will be analysed before the Transactional Analysis Contract can be established based on Key Counselling Issues. I will also elaborate on the Basic Therapeutic Goals and how Strokes play a part in this therapeutic process. Lastly, I will examine the role and function of the Counsellor in this case study.


Life Positions of Siew Lian
By the time a child is of early school age he will already have arrived at certain deeply ingrained conviction about the worth of self and of others. Of himself he may believe `I am OK’ or ‘I’m not-OK’. His conviction about others may be ‘You’re OK’, or ‘You’re not-OK’. These convictions, `are likely to stay with him for the rest of his life’. (Berne, 1972)

Siew Lian’s father left the family when she was five years old. The basic need of a nurturing and responsible father was not met throughout the formative stage of her life. Siew Lian might have decided that it was her fault - that she was not good enough for her father hence the abandonment.

It was likely that her mother had to work to fend for the family. Left on her own, she was bullied by her brothers. And when the abusive men entered through the door one after another, Siew Lian witnessed first hand the physical & emotional trauma of broken down relationships. That could have resulted in her distrust in others. Growing up, Siew Lian’s basic Life Position was that of ‘I’m not OK, You’re OK’. Her focus was on personal faults and negative self-image. `A loser dwells on past personal misfortunes. He is self-pitying & shifts the responsibility for an unsatisfactory life onto others. Blaming others & excusing oneself are often part of the loser’s games.’ (James & Jongeward, 1978)


Early Scripts in SL’s Life (Drivers & Underlying Injunctions)

Berne defined a Script as a personal life plan decided upon by each individual at an early age; in respect of the interpretation of external events. (Steiner, 1974)

Taibi Kahler described Drivers as derived from the Parent ego state, stating that the child will be OK if he follows a message. The likely Drivers she grew up trying to live up to are:

1. Be Good (‘You’re only OK if you’re good enough!’).
2. Be Pleasing to others (‘To be OK around here, you’ve to please others.’)
3. Try Hard (‘To be OK around here, you’ve to keep trying hard.’)
4. Be Strong (‘You’re only OK if you hide your feelings.’)

1. Be Good (‘You’re only OK if you’re good enough!’).
2. Be Pleasing to others (‘To be OK around here, you’ve to please others.’)
3. Try Hard (‘To be OK around here, you’ve to keep trying hard.’)
4. Be Strong (‘You’re only OK if you hide your feelings.’)

An injunction is a message (verbal or inferred from parental behaviour) given to Siew Lian by her parents’ internal Child out of circumstances of the parents’ own pains – anxiety, anger, frustration & unhappiness. (Corey, 1991) The underlying injunctions Siew Lian grew up with when her father abandoned her at age 5 might be “I wish you hadn’t been born!” This “Don’t exist” message may be implied by his abandoning his children. Siew Lian’s possible decision: “I’ll do all I can to get you to love (like) me.” This too showed in Siew Lian’s attempts to please her colleagues.

Siew Lian was overlooked as unimportant by her mother. She might have been ignored rather than rescued each time she was persecuted or bullied. Her mother’s message related to this injunction: “Your needs aren’t important.” Siew Lian might have decided that “I’ll never be important.”

Siew Lian’s parents who were hostile towards each other gave her the message: “Don’t be close.” And related to this injunction are the messages “Don’t trust” & “Don’t love”. Siew Lian’s possible decisions: “I won’t allow myself to get close, for when I do people abuse or leave me.” She might have saved up enough bad feelings or Rackets in the process. She might have been made to feel sad or depressed to mask her anger or resentment. All of these elements will make up the Life Script of Siew Lian. She needs to move out of the script & gain autonomy, the components of which are awareness, spontaneity, & the capacity for intimacy. (Stewart & Joines, 2003)

The Functional Ego-States of SL Analysed

Ego-states, in Berne’s definition of the term, were the building blocks of his Structure of Personality (Berne, 1961) Parent & Child were both echoes of the past. Adult was a response to the here-and-now, using the person’s grown-up resources. All three of the ego-states entailed thinking, feeling & behaviours. (Stewart & Joines, 2003)

The Structure model of ego-states:

P: Parent A: Adult C: Child

People’s interactions are made up of transactions. When people interact they do so in one of the three ego states. The functional model (Appendix 1) classifies observed behaviours, while the structural model (Figure 1) classifies stored memories & strategies. (Stewart & Joines, 2003)

An ego-gram shows the relative strength of a person’s ego states at any one time. (Dusay, 1977) Siew Lian’s ego-state (Figure 2) from a functional perspective may reveal a high score on her Compliant Child as she has been subjected to harsh and persecutory remarks growing up. As the authoritative figures would have transacted with her largely from a Controlling Parent ego-state, she would probably be dominated by her Compliant Child ego-state in her response & behaviour. In the process she probably found ways of seducing herself into obedience. “If I act nice, people will accept me.”
Steiner states that one ego state can dominate a person to the exclusion of the other two (Steiner, 2000).

The exclusion of her Parent-ego state is reflected in her resignation to the fact that she is not good enough for any man, without demonstrating responsibility in testing her own hypothesis. The exclusion of her Adult-ego state is also reflected in her intellectual control and of her socialization. She has taken an extreme view that she has to be extra nice to her colleagues to be liked and accepted but unfortunately deluded by the belief that she is being taken advantage of by them.

There seems also a probability of a double contamination from the Parent & the Child ego-states. Double contamination occurs when Siew Lian re-plays a Parental slogan, agrees to it with a Child belief, and mistakes both of these for reality. For instance:

(P) `If only my children are good enough,’ paired with:
(C) `To get by in the world, I have to try harder.’
Siew Lian holds outdated, distorted beliefs about herself, other people & the world.

TA Contract with SL based on Key Counselling Issues

Eric Berne (1966) defines a contract as: “an explicit bilateral commitment to a well-defined course of action.” Transactional Analysis assumes that people have the capacity to think and make decisions. And these decisions can be changed. It is a contract for change Siew Lian makes with herself after she has closed her escape hatches such as taking her own life etc. The contract states specifically what Siew Lian wants to be cured of. She will be encouraged to be honest with the Counsellor and with herself, about her wants & feelings. The Counsellor’s dialogue with Siew Lian based on the Key Counselling Issues may be illustrated in Appendix 2 or Appendix 3.

Basic Therapeutic Goals

Since people are born OK it is reasonable to expect Siew Lian to return to her original OK position with competent help. In order to help Siew Lian identify and replace faulty & out-dated beliefs, testing them out against the here-and-now reality will help to decontaminate & strengthen her Adult. Another goal of therapy is to give Siew Lian Permissions that she had not received from her parents as Permissions were the key to her ability to break free of the script. (Berne, 1972)

By using Gestalt technique, Siew Lian can be helped to go back to the early experiences which caused her to make decisions that were necessary for her physical or psychological survival then, but are getting in her way in the present, she can make Re-decision to behave differently in order to have a more fulfilling life in the present.

With help from the Counsellor, Siew Lian may explore the possibilities of equipping herself with social & communication skills and to learn the concept of strokes to boost her self-esteem.

Strokes

Strokes are essential to a person’s life. Without them, Berne said, the `spinal cord’ll shrivel up.’ Stroke is a form of recognition. Positive strokes say “I like you.” Negative strokes say “I don’t like you.” Conditional strokes say “I’ll like you if and when….” Unconditional strokes say “I’m willing to accept you for who you are and for being who you are, & we can negotiate our differences.” (Corey, 1991)

It is hard to imagine Siew Lian growing up receiving positive & unconditional strokes from interactions with her parents. Negative strokes from the abusive & violent men made her feel not OK. Still, they were a form of recognition. For these reasons, her mother might have chosen the situation of negative strokes to a situation of NO stroke at all. The absence of positive strokes from her mother may have prevented her from being able to use her Adult to ask for & get the love she wants. She may have difficulty giving (since she needs to try hard) or accepting attention and love. She also does not expect people to be completely honest & that shows in her inability to trust them fully.

Giving positive & unconditional strokes to Siew Lian will then be very essential and helpful if the Counsellor wants to bring out the Adult in her, as well as to gain her trust.


Counsellor’s Role & Function in this Case Study

Basically, the role & function of the Counsellor in this case is to confront, make contracts, analyze transactions & stroking patterns, tender Permissions & deliver protection for those Permissions, & maintain focused attention to achieve a satisfactory completion of the contract.

In transactional analysis, Stewart (1996) wrote about confronting script beliefs. He referred to ‘confrontation’ in terms of speaking or acting in any way that invites clients to consider their beliefs in relation to reality. Confrontation in therapy only becomes effective if the client has confidence in the therapist’s credibility, which translates into the client accepting new feelings, thoughts, or behaviour after a confrontation. (Leong, 1999)

In TA practice, Siew Lian is encouraged to learn the ideas of TA in its simplified version (Psycho-education). She should have full information about what was going on so case notes are open to her inspection. She is invited to take an equal role with the counsellor in the process of change. Both will know how the task will be shared and when the therapy is to be completed. (Leong, 2006).

The supportive techniques used by the Counsellor in the preliminary steps of treatment may be useful if Siew Lian is found to be severely depressed. The Counsellor is to practice empathy & kindness while avoiding Co-dependency/Rescuing. But the best way to avoid the Drama Triangle (Persecutor, Rescuer & Victim roles/feelings) (Karpman, 1968) is to stay in the Adult ego state.
The Counsellor has to keep track of Siew Lian’s shifts from & between different Child ego-states as each one represents the experience and expression of a different development stage.

The effective Counsellor offers Permissions only when she and Siew Lian have formed and
consolidated their Adult alliance. Supposing Siew Lian who is now shy and withdrawn has been told “Don’t ask for anything. You don’t deserve anything.” The Permission would be to ask for what is wanted or needed. “Ask for strokes, you deserve them.” When Siew Lian takes a Permission & goes against parental demands & wishes, her Child is apt to get very frightened. That’s why Protection is a very important part of change. Protection is given to Siew Lian when she is ready to change her script. “Don’t worry, Siew Lian, everything is going to be all right. I’ll back you up & take care of you when you’re scared.” Permission & Protection increase the therapeutic Potency of a TA by introducing the Nurturing Parent into the situation.
(Retrieved on June 21, 2006 from
http://www.itaa-net.org/ta/CoreConcepts/CoreConcepts.htm)

If Siew Lian had unfinished business with her dad for walking out on her, the counsellor could use the `hot-seat’ fantasy technique to help her express her feelings. To carry out this experiential technique, counsellor needs to be aware of inherent risk of the shift from sense of loss to severe depression. “I feel that such confrontation involves substantial risk, so when I use it, I take care to communicate support, empathy, immediacy, & warmth to the client.” (Leong, 1999)

References


Berne, E. (1961). Transational Analysis in Psychotherapy. New York:Grove Press

Berne, E. (1966). Principles of Group Treatment. New York:Oxford University Press

Berne, E. (1972). What do you say after you say hello? New York:Grove Press

James, M., & Jongeward, D. (1978). Born to win. Boston:Signet

Steiner, C. (1974). Scripts People Live: Transactional Analysis of Life Scripts. New York:Grove Press

Corey, G. (1991). Theory & Practice of Counselling & Psychotheray (4th ed.) Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole

Stewart, I., & Joines, V. (2003). TA Today. England:Russell Press

Dusay, J. (1977). Egograms. New York:Harper & Row

Karpman, S. (1968). Fairy tales and script drama analysis.

Leong, J. (1999). Therapeutic conversation through confrontation: Reflections from a Singaporean Perspective. Transactional Analysis Journal, 29(4), 278-282.


Leong, J. (2006). Lecture notes on Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy.


Leong, J. (2006). Notes on ERIC BERNE by Ian Stewart, Sage Publications, London, 1992

Appendix 2 – Transcript with Siew Lian


Counsellor: What do you want to change with the current situation you are in?
Siew Lian: I want to get over the overwhelming sense of loss.

C: That’s a bit vague. Can you be more specific?

SL: I have just broken off with my boy friend and I think I’m not good enough for any man.

C: Ok, let’s discuss the specifics. How do I fit into your plans?

SL: I want help to feel confident so that I can start afresh.

C: How will you and I know you have achieved what you want?

SL: If I come back & report to you that I’ve started a new relationship.

C: How might you sabotage yourself?

SL: By telling myself that “I’m useless” or “I’m a nobody”

Appendix 3 -Transcript with Siew Lian


Counsellor: What do you want to change with the situation that you have discussed with me?
Siew Lian: I tried very hard to be nice to my colleagues but they are always taking advantage of me.

C: What do you intend to change specifically?

SL: I want to learn to trust them.

C: What are you willing to do in order to make this change?

SL: I want help in dispelling my distrust in people and to learn effective social skills.

C: How will you and I know when you have made the change?

SL: I will report to you the outcome of my new approaches towards my colleagues and their responses towards me.

C: How can you stop yourself from achieving your contract?

SL: By telling myself that `Everybody in the office is making use of me’ or ‘My colleagues are talking behind my back.’