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Abstract
This article presents an argument for the clinical and empirical relevance of case study material. Drawing on a series of systematic case studies based in Stiles’s (2007) model of theory building, the author proposes adding the concepts of avoidance and vicious cycles to standard transactional analysis and offers case material to illustrate the usefulness of doing so. Avoidance and vicious cycles are proposed as key mechanisms in the maintenance of the client’s problems, specifically depression and anxiety but also other presenting problems. The article also proposes experiential disconfirmation as an active change mechanism in transactional analysis therapy whereby the therapist actively challenges the client’s life script and promotes change at an experiential level. These concepts forge links between several transactional analysis concepts and provide a unifying framework for a range of TA therapy approaches.
Notes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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Notes on contributors
Mark Widdowson
Mark Widdowson, PhD, MSc, ECP, FHEA, is a Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy) and a UKCP-registered psychotherapist. He is the author of Transactional Analysis: 100 Key Points (Routledge) and is an active psychotherapy researcher. He is also a lecturer in counseling and psychotherapy at the University of Salford. Mark can be reached at Room 317, Mary Seacole Building, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Salford, Salford M6 6PU, United Kingdom; email: [email protected].