Eric (Lennard) Berne - Background and education, Clinical work, Intuition, Transactional Analysis, Personal life, Further reading

Psychiatrist and writer, born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He studied medicine at McGill University and attended the Yale Psychiatric Clinic (1936–8). He was affiliated with the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute (1947–56) and conducted a private practice in psychiatry for more than 30 years. His theory of ‘transactional analysis’ became well known through his book Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships (1964).

Eric Berne (May 10, 1910 – July 15, 1970) was a Canadian-born psychiatrist best known as the creator of transactional analysis.

Background and education

Eric was born on May 10, 1910 as Eric Lennard Bernstein in Montreal, Canada.

Bernstein attended McGill University, graduating in 1931 and earning his M.D. In 1943 he changed his legal name to Eric Berne.

Clinical work

Berne's training was interrupted by World War II and his service in the Army Medical Corps. He resumed his studies under Dr. Erik Erikson at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and practiced at Mt.

In addition to technical papers on psychoanalysis, Berne published The Mind in Action in 1947.

Dr. Berne's work began to diverge from the mainstream of psychoanalytic thought. His break became formal in 1949 when he was rejected for membership in the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute.

Intuition

Berne wrote a series of papers and articles on intuition, describing in one popular exposition his apparently uncanny ability to guess the civilian occupation of soldiers from just a few moments conversation with them. His musings on the faculty of intuition led to his groundbreaking work on transactional analysis.

Transactional Analysis

Main Article, see: Transactional analysis.

Berne mapped interpersonal relationships to three ego-states of the individuals involved: the Parent, Adult, and Child state. These interpersonal interactions he called transactions; certain patterns of transactions which popped up repeatedly in everyday life he called games.

In the early 1960s he published both technical and popular accounts of his conclusions.

His seminar group from the 1950s developed the term Transactional Analysis (TA) to describe therapies based on his work.

Berne was famous for his use of ordinary, easy-to-understand words instead of psychiatric terminology.

Personal life

While Berne's professional life was full of intellectual challenge and creative work, he was less successful in his personal life.

After his popular success, Eric married a third time, to Torre Peterson in 1967. The couple took up residence in Carmel, California where he wrote, but he continued some clinical work in San Francisco. Dr. Berne died suddenly of a heart attack on July 15, 1970.

Further reading

Eric Berne by Ian Stewart;

By Eric Berne, M.D. (1996 Paperback, ISBN 0-345-41003-3) What Do You Say After You Say Hello?; ISBN 0-552-09806-X The Mind in Action; (1984 Paperback reprint: ISBN 0-345-32025-5). (1986 reprint: ISBN 0-345-33836-7).