Tony White

Symbiosis and Attachment Hunger

In this article, the concept of symbiosis is described in terms of two parts: the transactional symbiosis and the attachment. This permits us to understand the concept in a new way and demonstrates...

Transference, Attachment, and the Transactional Symbiosis:

The definition of symbiosis is reconsidered, and the implications of this reassessment for the phenomenon of transference are examined. Four relationship types are also described in terms of this r...

Homophobia: A Misnomer

This paper identifies the term “homophobia” as inaccurate: “Homophobia” is not a phobia. The confusion may result in part from literary uses of “phobia,” which include both anxiety and anger conditions. Clinical observations of clients displaying “homophobia” are discussed. Alternative language is recommended as more accurate and more likely to result in appropriate treatment.

A Transactional Analysis Perspective on Suicide Risk Assessment

The author discusses some of the difficulties in making suicide risk assessments. He focuses on Goulding and Goulding’s (1978) theory of injunctions, particularly their notion of a Don’t Exist injunction. He argues that this injunction in the mind of an individual can consciously or unconsciously lead to suicidality. Therefore, diagnosing the presence of a Don’t Exist injunction is useful in the assessment of suicide risk. A client illustration is included as an example of how to diagnose this injunction.

Is a Happy Teenager a Healthy Teenager?: Four Levels of Adolescent Anger

The concept of adolescent anger is described so that it can be explained to the teenager and his or her parents in such a way that it is readily understandable and usable. It also provides the psychotherapist with a system of looking at the teenager so that treatment options become available for dealing with the anger.

The Seven Suicide Decisions: Reassessing the Gouldings’ Work to Include Suicidal Ambivalence and the Homicide/Suicide Dimension

Abstract This article assesses the original concept of seven decisions related to suicide as it was originally proposed in 1979 by Goulding and Goulding. It examines the suicidal life script, including how it forms with the acceptance of the Don’t Exist injunction and is then personalized with the seven suicide decisions. The author considers the relationship between suicide and homicide and how they are similar and provides a transactional analysis explanation of homicidal behavior. The concept of suicidal ambivalence is presented to explain why all suicide attempts are half hearted. Seven suicide decisions and their clinical relevance are described.

The Contact Contract

To state the obvious, clients and therapists are humans. Yet we become so proficient and well trained as psychotherapists that we inevitably lose our humanness. This article shows how this happens by distinguishing between genuine Free Child and learned Free Child and how maintaining some form of genuineness with clients is possible using the contact contract.

No-Psychosis Contracts

The move toward nonresidential treatment approaches is a worldwide trend in the treatment of emotional disorders. This paper looks at the impact of this trend on individuals with psychosis, primarily schizophrenia. It concludes that we need to begin constructing a transactional analysis approach to schizophrenia that is accessible to a large number of schizophrenics, not just a lucky few. It offers no-psychosis contracts as a first step.