ADVANCED TRAINING SYLLABUS
What You’ll Cover in This Advanced Transactional Analysis Training
The Advanced Training Group is the TA Academy’s most advanced professional training pathway for people ready to deepen their therapeutic practice, broaden their theoretical understanding and work towards longer-term professional development in Transactional Analysis. This page outlines the main areas covered in the programme, how the learning is delivered and what participants can expect from the experience.
Programme Overview
The Advanced Training Group follows ‘TA Foundations’ and ‘TA in Practice’ and forms the advanced stage of TA Academy’s wider training pathway. It is designed for serious students and practitioners who want to move beyond foundational learning and applied skills into deeper theory, advanced clinical work and certification-related progression.
This advanced counselling, organisational and psychotherapy training explores a wide range of Transactional Analysis topics through a structured multi-year programme. It supports deeper professional integration, stronger clinical understanding and continued development across psychotherapy, counselling, organisational and educational fields.
Each training year includes:
-
117 hours of advanced clinical training
-
Three 5-day in-person modules each year
-
Three 3-hour online sessions per year
-
Around 20 hours of coursework per month
-
Tutor, self and peer group competency evaluation
The Advanced Training Group is especially suited to people who want serious transactional analysis training, ongoing personal and professional development and a supported pathway towards CTA-related progression.
The Key Topics You’ll Explore
The Professional Training Group covers advanced TA theory, application and contemporary developments through a rotating programme of topics. The following is not an exhaustive list rather that of key topics which can be field specific content dependent on student choices.
Diagnosis and Treatment Planning
Developing clearer clinical thinking, assessment skills and how to design appropriate treatment planning.
The 8 Therapeutic Operations
Deepening understanding of therapeutic process and the purpose of different interventions.
Attachment and Child Development
Exploring developmental patterns and their impact on adult life, relationships and therapeutic work.
Relational Hungers
Understanding core relational needs and how they shape connection, distress and growth.
Mistakes and Ruptures
Learning how to recognise, work with and repair relationship ruptures in meaningful ways.
Redecision School
Including parent interviews and two-chair work as part of deeper change processes.
Cathexis School
Including redefining, discounting, the discount matrix, impasses and confrontation.
Self-Reparenting
Exploring developmental repair and internal change through advanced TA practice.
Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Roots of TA
Understanding the broader theoretical foundations that inform advanced Transactional Analysis.
Transference and Countertransference
Building greater awareness of relational process in professional work.
Relational and Integrative Approaches to TA
Expanding your framework through contemporary approaches to theory and practice.
Bi-cultural perspectives
Understand Māori models of health and mental health such as Te Whare Tapa Whã and Te Pae Mahutonga, where wellbeing is not just individual but connected to; whānau (family), whenua (land), wairua (spirit)\ and whakapapa (ancestry).
Organisational TA frameworks
Increasing your understanding of systems, power, organisational culture and leadership dynamics between individuals and groups.
Group relations
Group dynamics, games and unconscious processes and conflict management. Application of TA models into groups and organisations.
Metaphor, Narrative, Dreams and Fairy Tales
Using symbolic and narrative material within therapeutic, professional and developmental work. This includes understanding how unconscious processes and life scripts are expressed and reshaped through imagery, story and meaning-making.
Creativity in Personal Change
Exploring how creativity can support insight, integration and transformation. Participants will engage with creative processes as a way to access personal growth, expand options and move beyond limiting patterns.
Group Work and Couples Work
Applying advanced TA concepts in relational, group and multi-person settings. This includes working with dynamics such as transference, projection, roles, boundaries and co-created relational patterns.
Working with Complex Presentations
Including anxiety, bereavement, depression, addictions, sexual abuse, personality disorders and adaptations. Emphasis is placed on developing nuanced assessment, ethical responsiveness and integrative treatment planning for diverse client needs.
Psychiatric and Medical Models of Mental Illness
Including DSM V, the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, Transdiagnostic Model and nervous system diagnosis of mental illness. Participants will critically explore how these models can be integrated with TA perspectives to inform holistic and effective practice.
Alignment to other interventions
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT).
The Role of the Body and Nutrition in Mental Health
Bringing in contemporary understanding of embodiment, trauma and wider wellbeing and resilience factors. This includes recognising the interplay between physiological regulation, lifestyle patterns and psychological experience in supporting sustainable mental health and recovery.
TA Research and Exam Preparation
Supporting ongoing development and CTA-related examination readiness. This includes strengthening critical thinking, integrating theory with practice and developing clear, coherent written and oral articulation aligned with CTA standards.
What You’ll Learn
By taking part in the Advanced Training Group, participants can expect to:
-
Deepen understanding, diagnosis, intervention and treatment planning
-
Strengthen capacity to work with more complex presentations
-
Increase awareness of organisational dynamics
-
Expand their use of Transactional Analysis across a broader theoretical base
-
Integrate relational, psychodynamic, somatic and creative perspectives into practice
-
Build confidence and competence in advanced therapeutic/professional work
-
Prepare for CTA-related progression and longer-term professional recognition
Participants also develop both professional competence and personal growth within a learning environment that is supportive, intellectually stimulating and grounded in real-world practice.
How the Learning Happens
The Advanced Training Group is designed as a substantial, immersive training experience that blends advanced theory with applied learning, reflection and ongoing evaluation. The programme includes in-person module teaching, coursework, monthly supervision, online sessions and competency development over time.
Like the rest of TA Academy’s training, the learning environment is designed to be relational, engaging and professionally serious. It supports both depth of understanding and practical integration, rather than theory in isolation.
Participants can expect a training experience that includes:
-
Advanced teaching and theory integration
-
Practical application to real client and professional contexts
-
Reflective learning and discussion
-
Competency evaluation
-
Sustained professional support over time
-
Exploration of contemporary developments including neuroscience, the body and creativity
What the Programme Structure Looks Like
Each year of the Advanced Training Group includes three 5-day modules, three 3-hour online sessions, monthly coursework, supervision and ongoing competency evaluation. This creates a rhythm of sustained learning, reflection and application across each year, rather than the ‘one-off’ intensive experience of modules one and two.
The programme is designed for people who are ready for a serious training commitment and who want to deepen their practice over time within a structured professional pathway.
Outcomes & Certification
After each training year, participants receive:
-
A certificate of attendance for 117 hours of Advanced Professional Training in Transactional Analysis
-
A group of topic-specific certificates that may be used for CPD purposes and with accreditation bodies such as ACC and NZAC.
The wider programme is also designed to support CTA-related progression. Students who wish to continue towards qualification may remain in the training group until qualification, with ongoing support.
This means the Advanced Training Group offers more than advanced study alone. It provides a serious pathway for deeper professional development and longer-term recognition in Transactional Analysis.
Entry Point and Progression
The Advanced Training Group follows ‘TA Foundations’ and ‘TA in Practice’ and is not designed as a first step. It is intended for people who have completed the earlier stages of the pathway, or who have equivalent prior learning accepted by the Academy.
These earlier stages provide the grounding needed for advanced work. From there, the wider pathway progresses from core understanding, to applied practice, to deeper theory, integration and certification-related development.
Depending on your field, goals and prior qualifications, this stage may also support broader professional recognition. Current pathways include: NZAC and PBANZ accreditation as well as CTA (global) recognition.
Practical Details
-
Format: Advanced in-person training programme with online support across the year
-
Training hours: 117 hours per year
-
Structure: Three 5-day modules, three 3-hour online sessions, monthly coursework, supervision and regular competency evaluation by self, peers and tutors
-
Cost: $7500 + GST per year
-
Progression: Ongoing support towards CTA qualification for students who wish to continue