Born To Win: Transactional Analysis With Gestalt Experiments

I have been a practicing pychologist for almost thirty years. have my original yellowed copy with broken back, prominant on my shelf. I refer people to this book and work them through it as a course in thinking and feeling change! It is clear and understandable. I was taught Transactional Analysis by my Clinical professor. We also used TA in the theraputic community when I was a prison psychologist. The authors combine gestalt process along with transactional models. Eric Berne the creator of TA was trained in Freudian Psychology so there is some parallels. But the language is concrete and the sources of the content are tangible. It is a process oriented book, with some insight thrown in. There is criticism about a lack of philosophical orientation, but I continue to recomend this book after many years, and send my patients/clients out to find it. Hopefully we will continue to keep it being published. Possibly an updated version? Why? You may not be old enough to remember when the grocery store gave out gold and green stamps for merchandise redemtion? So the idea of collecting stamps as a way of describing building up feelings of injustice may be confusing. I have used this as a text in bibliotherapy for some clients who radically changed there lives before my eyes. I highly recomend this book! I actually do! In my practice! I am continuing to recomend this book to my clients. As I mentioned above it is a little dated. Eric Bernes was a classicaly trained therapist. he found that using more specific everyday labels of our memories and learning placed into simple, recognizable, concepts allows every person to understand. It combined with other skills provides insight as to why we behave as we do. This version is a 25th anniversary edition. LOL! I recomend it !

Self improvement or Self review book… good one … If you are active and Energetic and full of +ve attitude then, no need of this book.. I recommend this to someone who feel lost and thinking about themself downwards .. Self improvement book

Good read.

I have yet to give 5 stars to a book because, in my view, a 5 star book is one I would recommend to everyone. My holding back a star on this book is merely because it is presented in a "self-help" format. There's great stuff in this book, without a doubt. But some people -- perhaps the ones who may need to know about transactional analysis the most -- are not so open to exercises that are "touchy-feely." My interest in transactional analysis (TA) is from an organization development point of view. For anyone who has ever worked in an organization, to say it can be dysfunctional is an understatement. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a roadmap that everyone can follow where all interactions could be pleasant and productive? Well, there is such a roadmap. TA is brilliant in presenting, somewhat simply, the different states from which we communicate (transact) and how some just don't work. If you've ever tried to read the writings of Eric Berne, the originator of TA, it is very hard to follow. This is where Born To Win shines. It has done a beautiful job of distilling the essence and presenting it in the most comprehensive way. Reading this book will allow you to recognize the games people are playing, ones you're caught up in or maybe even those you've initiated. The authors posit that losers manipulate others to live up to their expectations while winners assume responsibilty for their lives while fully respecting the uniqueness of others'. This book is a great manual for realizing the ultimate goal of TA -- to reach full autonomy by throwing off patterns not relevant to the here and now.

Excellent primer on Transactional Analysis Theory. Easy read

This is an excellent book and so well written. The contents can help you communicate better with co-workers, your friends and family. The information can help you work through childhood issues and adult situations. I read it over 20 years. It's inspirational, positive and very direct. It provides you with useable tools to help you assess your current behavior, mood and how to correct yourself so you can be happy. Read it! I invite you!

I read this m any years ago for the first time and it changed my life, both figuratively and literally. The exercises in the book helped me understand my reactions and emotions just as much as if I had spent many hours discussing such things. I bought the book again and have just begun to review it. I am sure I will find it equally worthwhile at this much older and wiser? age. :)

I really enjoyed this book but I am very upset that almost a whole chapter was missing. Almost all of chapter 5 and I wasn't aware of this until I had already been using the book and jotting down notes and dog-earing pages.