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Abstract
This article focuses on how games unfold as transferential dramas in the consulting room theater. The author explores how the therapist’s countertransference can become an avenue for understanding the client’s unspoken communication. Eric Berne’s idea that games can be played in three degrees of intensity is suggested as a framework for thinking about and using countertransference. The author proposes that resolution of a game often requires an emotional shift within the therapist.
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.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jo Stuthridge
Jo Stuthridge, MSc, is a Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy), a member of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists, and a registered psychotherapist in New Zealand. She maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Dunedin and is director of the Physis Institute, which offers training in transactional analysis. She is currently a Teaching and Research Associate with the Department of Psychotherapy and Counselling at Auckland University of Technology and a coeditor of the Transactional Analysis Journal. Jo can be reached at 85 Cliffs Rd., Dunedin 9012, New Zealand; email: [email protected]. The author is deeply grateful to the clients who have allowed her to share these stories.