The idea of transaction analysis is a theory of personality and systematic psychotherapy for personal growth and change that has been around since the 1950's. It describes how we all develop into being the people that we are today by going back to the ego-state model, that is to say the Parent-Child-Adult model, from which we draw all our trait characteristics and behavioral patterns.
More than anything else, this theory is extended over the child development area explaining how everything that we are today is a direct result of our childhood and the way we interacted and were treated as kids. In short, the transaction analysis presupposes that we all have specific working styles and behaviors that were clearly established throughout our childhood.
The main theory that derives from this is the idea of Life Script, also known as a Childhood script, which states that in our adult life, without any regard for the results, we merely continue to perform and re-play the same games and strategies we did as kids.
In effect, it means that whatever our roles were as kids and then stance we assumed when playing a game will be repeated throughout our lives through the fact that we will always be inclined to perform the same role over and over again. For example, a child that always gave up in the middle of a game will end up being an adult that has problems committing himself to something or finishing a project he started.
What can be understood from this theory is that our identity, dialogues, and basically all our life scenes and everything that defines our own selves is merely a result of how we acted as children and how we were answered to. In this way, the theory denies any sort of implication of fate in our actions, putting everything on basic psychological systems and on the Life Script.
Of course, everything and anything can be controlled and changed if we work on it hard enough. That is to say that through self-coaching techniques and a good sense of responsibility we can always get over such psychological boundaries. The use of self-development materials and a good drive can help anyone take control of his life and destiny. The first step in doing such a thing is to get rid of the idea of leaving things in the hands of fate, and compel one's self to take control of his destiny through hard work and self-coaching.
