Lucy Freedman, MAT, CTA-P,E,O. President, ITAA Foundation

We will explore the second word in our conference theme, Legitimacy, as it applies to TA in different professions, different parts of the world, and different cultures.

What do we mean by legitimacy and what is its value?

Having started as a counter movement to psychoanalysis, the history of TA is that of being an outsider to what was considered legitimate in psychotherapy. Eric Berne gave two contrasting messages: we want TA to be accessible to all people, and we want transactional analysts to be seen as “real doctors.” Today, we have a journal that strives for recognition while fields of application multiply, each field with its own communities of standards.

In some countries and professions, being seen as a legitimate field of practice entitles transactional analysts to licensure or other recognition, and in others it is simply a specialization to be combined with credentials earned in universities or other certifying agencies.

We’ll begin with comments on legitimacy of different fields of practice within TA, internal and external recognition of transactional analysis and why it matters. Participants will then be invited to contribute.

Questions:

• What concerns about TA’s legitimacy are present in your country and / or field of practice?
• How does legitimacy matter from the point of view of our clients and for people who are entering professional training?
• What policies or practices increase or decrease TA’s legitimacy?
• What can / should ITAA, EATA, other TA associations do to make TA legitimate, or more legitimate, in your field?
• What forms does legitimacy take in different societies? Should TA be presented differently to be accepted in different contexts? How?
• When do concerns about legitimacy block innovation? (For example, Eric Berne risked being ostracized to establish something new.) Are we seeing anything like that now?

We anticipate an informative and wide-ranging discussion. Opening comments will be offered by Dr. Emily Keller, LPCC, Registered Play Therapy Supervisor, RST C/T clinical director, and Dr. Elvin Aydin Keles, PhD, clinical counselor, PTSTA-P, ITAA Director of Research and Innovation.