Abstract:

This article describes the script system with a case study to illustrate the four primary components: script beliefs; behavioral, fantasy and physiological manifestations; reinforcing experiences; and the intrapsychic process of repressed needs and feelings. The article was originally published in Life Scripts: A Transactional Analysis of Unconscious Relational Patterns, edited by Richard G. Erskine, reprinted with kind permission of Karnac Books.

Keywords:

 Script system; Unconscious organization; Integrative Transactional analysis psychotherapy

In early writings about Life Scripts, Berne (1958, 1961) describes the script as a complex set of transactions that determines the identity and destiny of the individual. He goes on to explain the script as similar to Freud’s repetition compulsion and more like his destiny compulsion (Berne, 1966, p 302). Most of

the Transactional Analysis literature regarding scripts has focused on the historical perspective. The literature has addressed how scripts have been transmitted through parental messages and injunctions, and a child’s reactions, such as unconscious conclusions and explicit decisions. Additionally, some

contemporary transactional analysts have examined several processes such as early child-parent attachment, shared language acquisition, and the expression of narrative as central in the formation of scripts. Each of these historical perspectives has provided the clinician with theories and concepts that have guided a variety of clinical interventions.

Reference:

Original article was published in: O’Reilly-Knapp, M. & Erskine, R. G. (2010). The Script System: An Unconscious Organization of Experience. In R. G. Erskine (Ed.), Life Scripts: A Transactional Analysis of Unconscious Relational Patterns. (pp. 291-309). London: Karnac Books. Reprinted with kind permission of Karnac Books. http//www.karnacbooks.com/Product.asp?PID=27778.

The Script System: An Unconscious Organization of Experience