Psychodynamic TA

Domain III · Humanistic, existential & experiential · Carlo Moiso, Michele Novellino · 1985 · Italy

What it is

The school keeps Berne's treatment sequence and reads each phase through transference. Novellino names four strategic phases. He also distinguishes method, methodology, therapeutic plan, strategy and technique. In practice: the phase is the strategy, and the operation you choose in a given minute…

Format

• Format and length. The sources give no fixed session count. The approach is open-ended, analytic-style psychotherapy within an explicit setting and contract, usually long-term, in individual and/or group format. Berne's own psychoanalytic-TA setting combined weekly groups with individual sessions.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Over-questioning turns into an interrogation game. Stop when the facts are clear.
• Interpretation imposed from your own theory. Dreams brought to please the therapist.
• Confirming too early, or confirming your own theory rather than the client's discovery.
• Forcing every story into the transference. The client's real-world problems also matter.
• The client agreeing in order to please (Adapted Child) rather than out of Adult recognition.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.