Letter From the Coeditor

The previous issue of the Transactional Analysis Journal (TAJ) contained articles on the important theme of systemic oppression. At the beginning of the editorial for that journal, my colleagues Karen Minikin and Helen Rowland wrote eloquently about the current social and political context around the world. They then went on to look at it through the lens of social oppression. As you will see, in this issue we will approach the current struggles of humanity through a different lens.

As we bring you a new issue of the TAJ, we do so in a time of continuing restlessness. Around the world, the effects of isolation resulting from the pandemic continue to reverberate. In addition, war and conflicts around the globe are changing lives and separating families. Communities splitting into opposites and objectifying “the other” may mean that there is less and less ground for connection. Giving us one more reason to appreciate being part of the lively worldwide transactional analysis community, the authors of this TAJ look at what it is that we need most in order to be able to hope for healing.

Looking at the articles in this issue, I was struck by a recurring theme among them. Although this is not a theme issue, it seems that the most pressing area of exploration and research for this issue’s authors highlights that which is our greatest loss (and need): human connection, being together in contact, an authentic and open-hearted move toward the other. So this is, in different ways, an unintentional theme of this TAJ.

This issue walks the talk with regard to connection by looking at its different facets, using different modes of exploration while maintaining common ground. Here you will find four theoretical articles, three research articles, three book reviews, and one letter to the coeditors in response to one of the articles. These authors explore and adapt TA theory to different cultures, such as India, Iran, the United Kingdom, and Turkey. Through all of these differences, they find common ground in looking at the same theme from different angles, thus building a richer and more cohesive image of our human need for connection.

We open with a paper by Rachel Cook entitled “Connection, Hungers, and Time Structuring: A Relational, Inclusive, and Transpersonal Development of Autonomy.” In her contribution, Cook challenges some aspects of autonomy that she thinks show why the concept needs further development: its egocentric form, its potential for oppression, and the lack of focus on the environmental and transpersonal. Cook goes on to make the case for the importance of connection for our development both within relationships and with the environment. She also looks at time structuring modes—with a focus on withdrawal, rituals, pastiming, and activities—to show how they may foster connection as well as work as a defense against intimacy. She enriches the theoretical exploration with four fitting case examples.

A recurring idea within the theme of connection seems to be that we, as individuals, are connected through and to something larger than ourselves. John Heath addresses this most clearly in his paper “The Impact of a Model of Nonmaterial Consciousness on the Concept of Mind in Action.” He also proposes additions to the concept of autonomy, as well as to the model of life positions, from within an ecological perspective. Looking at it in this way, he encourages us to extend our psychological models by considering the idea that we are all connected to a universal field of consciousness. A case example highlights the delicate and yet important unfolding that may flourish from introducing a spiritual dimension into our work.

In her article “Touching Practice: An Exploration of Runanubandh, Touch, and Contact in Psychotherapy, Anisha Pandya explores a different aspect of the connection between people: touching and being touched. She builds on the work of Novak (2016, 2018, 2022) and uses the Indian concept of runanubandh to widen our discussion of touch in psychotherapy. Pandya looks at the memory of touch in the body and reminds us to take into account the impact of touch on the therapist’s body, too. An example from her practice is presented and makes this an even more compelling read.

On the topic of therapists being connected to their own lived experience within the therapeutic relationship, Alistair Berlin and Megan Berlin revisit the concept of projective identification and address the imprecision they see in its definition. They also look at Hargaden and Sills’s deconfusion model and explain how they see projective identification differently. Berlin and Berlin present a six-stage relational model to support practitioners in working with projective identification. They offer case examples that take readers through every stage while clearly showing how they look at this as part of a two-person psychology. Being aware of the complexity of the concept they are exploring, Berlin and Berlin remind us that projective identification can also start from the therapist, and they make sure to present examples of both positive and negative projective identification.

As an example of being in contact, we are pleased to publish a letter from Charlotte Sills to the coeditors in response to the paper by Berlin and Berlin. She responds to their critique and offers some clarifications, which makes for a lively exchange of ideas within the more formal context of a journal. Sills also introduces two diagrams she has used recently: one about the transformational transferences and one she uses to teach about projective transference.

We continue with a research article by Gizem Beycan Ekitli and Esra Engin entitled “The Relationship Between Life Satisfaction and Functional Ego States for Elders in Nursing Homes.” With this paper and the interesting discussion of their findings, the authors open a door for readers toward a specific group of people and its characteristics. Readers will thus get to know more about cultural particularities of elderly people in Turkey and the changes in how they are perceived in recent years, all through the lens of the TA model of functional ego states. As an international journal, the TAJ is enriched by such contributions from around the world.

On that note, another piece of research that looked at TA concepts through the lens of a specific culture is an article written by Gashav Sharifi, Simin Hosseinian, and Abbas Abdollahi entitled “Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Injunctions Scale in Iranian University Students.” The researchers looked at an adapted version of the Drego Injunctions Scale and studied its validity within a group of 285 Iranian students. As they share the results, we are reminded of how Eric Berne used to observe the validity of his ideas while traveling to mental health facilities in many countries. I think that such research, which tests the validity of TA concepts or tools, is important for the TA community.

We are pleased to present a third research article entitled “Theory-Building Case Study Examining Empathic Transactions in Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy” by Mica Douglas, Giovanni Felice Pace, Valeria Villa, and William B. Stiles. It describes a study designed to assesses the Hargaden and Sills concept of empathic transactions (ET). The research team examined transcripts from a 26-session psychotherapy of a client working with one of the members of the team. Using several tools, the authors studied the client’s progress on several counts. They worked both individually and together using an adaptation of the four-step assimilation analysis procedure by Stiles and Angus (2001) to measure and interpret the success of the ETs in the therapeutic treatment. As a theory-building case study, this article increases confidence in the theoretical concept of ETs, with the authors concluding that ETs are a powerful resource to enhance the therapist’s skills and to deepen work with clients.

We end this issue with three important book reviews. To begin, Neal Edwards offers us a review of Fanita English, A Therapist’s Life and Work: From Psychoanalysis to Transactional Analysis and Gestalt Therapy by Sigrid Röhl. Interestingly, as we learn, the book is the result of many hours of interviews that were edited into a written narrative by Röhl and then revised by English herself. The book contains personal memories and reflections and insights. As Edwards’s review unfolds, his admiration and respect for English are palpable. He also reflects on the idea that the book seems to confirm that many of Fanita’s writings were inspired by her own experience, both personal and professional, which helped him to understands her ideas better. What finer example to highlight the diversity of the TA community as well as its connections than Fanita English, who described herself as a citizen of the world!

Also fitting with the theme of connection is Ed Novak’s review of the psychoanalytic book The Authority of Tenderness: Dignity and the True Self in Psychoanalysis by Paul Williams. This book describes the experience of living with damaged or destroyed parts of the self and offers clinical examples, theoretical explorations, and reflections for practitioners. Throughout the review, Novak also makes links with TA concepts and perspectives. I appreciated his own insights into past mistakes with such clients because it clarified some of the ideas he highlights from Williams’s book. I find it interesting that each paragraph of the review seems to present important ideas, with carefully chosen words, which fits with Novak’s interesting recommendation that we read Williams’s book in small doses so as to let it seep in.

We end this issue with a look at one of the strongest and most intimate connections that we can have: that between a parent and/or a child or between siblings. We zoom in on one of the rarely addressed aspects of these relationships, which is grief. Aideen O’Hagan reviews Cathy McQuaid’s book Understanding Bereaved Parents and Siblings: A Handbook for Professionals, Family, and Friends. O’Hagan begins her review with the idea that grief is the cost of loving. At the same time, continuing the bond with a child or a sibling who has died is one of the ideas she emphasizes from McQuaid’s book. O’Hagan describes the book with obvious appreciation for the gifts it offers. The book has two parts: The first presents real life stories, including the author’s, and the second presents tools and ideas to help people in practice. As a practitioner with 13 years of experience working within the bereavement field, O’Hagan clearly finds McQuaid’s book impactful and mentions that she wishes it had been written when she began working in the field, a measure of how useful she found it.

The theme of connection has emerged as a multifaceted topic in this issue of the TAJ, too large to capture at once, with each author bringing a perspective so that together we come closer to building a more complex picture. We have looked at connection as an addition to autonomy, connection, and touch, as connection facilitated in relationship by the willingness to look inside ourselves, as connection within a community (of professionals and otherwise), as connection in the face of loss, and as connection to something bigger than our individual selves. Related to this last topic, I find it telling that several authors in this issue touched on ecological TA in their exploration. This highlights the importance of our next themed issue of the TAJ, which will be edited by Giles Barrow, Hayley Marshall, and Sylvie Monin on “Ecological Transactional Analysis.”

I hope you enjoy reading the stories, theories, explorations, and research in this current issue of the TAJ and that they inspire you to read and write yourself, to reach out to authors, and to stay in contact.