Transactional Analysis and Psychoanalysis: Overcoming the Narcissism of Small Differences in the Shadow of Eric Berne

This article addresses how narcissistic identification with specific theoretical models interferes with further learning, development, and maturation within both individual and group contexts. Drawing on Freud’s initial reflections on the functions and consequences of narcissistic identifications and defenses within the life of groups, the author describes the impact of the narcissistically motivated inflation of differences in the history and evolution of transactional analysis. While acknowledging Eric Berne’s efforts to create an open and inclusive model of psychotherapy, the transgenerational consequences of his ambivalent and conflicted relationship with psychoanalysis are portrayed. The narcissistic encapsulation of transactional analysis as a unique methodology, subsequent to Berne’s death, is challenged.