Transactional analysis (TA) presents a model of man which has found applications far removed from the psychiatric practice of Dr Eric Berne, its originator. TA theory posits man as a being having three separate, identifiable ego states, namely child, adult and parent. There are two senses in which the term “transactional analysis” is used: as a generic term covering several analytic elements, and as a specific term relating to the analysis of transactions between people. The main analytic elements falling under the generic heading are known as games analysis, transactional analysis in the specific sense, structural analysis and script analysis. This article uses TA generally in its broader sense