TA FOUNDATIONS SYLLABUS
What You’ll Cover in this 5-Day Transactional Analysis Course
TA Foundations is a five-day transactional analysis course designed to give you a practical grounding in the core models of TA. This page outlines the core models covered in the course, how the learning is delivered and what participants can expect to gain from the experience.
Course Overview
TA Foundations is the first step in TA Academy’s transactional analysis training pathway. It is designed for practising professionals, career changers and those seeking meaningful personal and professional development, with no prior TA experience required. It builds on your existing knowledge and life-experience, with a strong emphasis on real-world application.
This five-day foundation programme includes:
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36 total training hours
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TA101 Certificate (12 hours)
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14 ICF Continuing Coach Education (CCE) credits
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24 hours of Applied TA Training with a certificate of completion
The Core Models You’ll Explore
TA Foundations presents ten core models of Transactional Analysis and gives participants opportunities to both experience their effectiveness and use them on themselves and others.
Contracts
Clear agreements about what people are working towards together. It was TA that first introduced this concept into the world of psychoanalysis and therapy.
Ego States
Understanding the different parts of ourselves that show up in how we think, feel and behave. It was TA that pioneered the use of therapy to access different parts of the self.
Transactions
Looking at how people communicate and respond to one another. This remains an approach to human interaction that is still unique anywhere in the world.
Games
Recognising repeated patterns in relationships that seem familiar but often lead to unhelpful outcomes. By describing the transferential dynamics present in all human relationships in everyday language, TA was the first and most successful psychologically informed best-seller in publishing history with “Games people Play” (1964).
Scripts
Exploring the unconscious life patterns and beliefs formed early on that can continue to shape adult life. This predated all other psychological “narrative” or “schema” approaches by several decades.
Hungers and Strokes
Understanding people’s need for recognition, connection and affirmation. This is a uniquely biological and nervous system approach to psychology and human behaviour that is now being validated by the modern neuroscience of trauma.
Rackets and Stamps
Noticing familiar emotional patterns and the feelings people collect or hold onto over time. This model captures the complexities of human behaviour with the simplest of metaphors.
Life Positions
Exploring the basic beliefs people hold about themselves, others and the world. This is one of the reasons that TA has proved to be so effective across so many different field – it compresses all human behaviour into just four existential positions.
Discounts
Recognising what people minimise, overlook or ignore in themselves, others or a situation. This enables us to specifically target the areas that are open to change or growth.
Autonomy
Developing greater awareness, choice and freedom in how we live and relate.
What You’ll Learn
By the end of the course, participants are expected to:
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Know the key concepts of transactional analysis
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Apply these concepts to your daily life
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Strengthen your communication skills and interpersonal effectiveness
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Deepen self-awareness and improve your internal self-dialogue
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Increase your reflective capacity
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Gain a broader understanding of modern TA and how it can help people navigate life, work and relationships more effectively
Participants will also gain a practical framework for understanding communication with self and others, insight into early life decisions and repeated patterns, increased awareness of relational dynamics across personal and professional contexts and greater confidence in integrating TA concepts into your life.
How the Learning Happens
The teaching methodology is designed to create a safe, exciting and challenging learning environment that applies the core principles of Transactional Analysis in practice.
This includes:
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Clear contractual communication
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An emphasis on personal responsibility
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The safety of an “I’m OK, You’re OK” learning environment
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Clear boundaries and roles
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Shared learning responsibilities
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A wide range of learning experiences including presentations, demonstrations, experiential applications, reflective discussions, creative exercises and somatic exercises.
The training blends practical tools, experiential exercises, group activities, real-world case application, personal reflection and professional skills practice, so you leave this module with both a deep understanding and a practical confidence in the many applications of TA.
What the Five Days Look Like
TA Foundations is delivered over five days and blends theory, demonstration, practical application and reflective discussion.
Across the course, participants can expect an immersive learning experience that may include group check-ins, experiential activities, feedback processes and somatic integration, alongside the core teaching sessions.
This gives the course a rhythm that is engaging, reflective and grounded in real-world application.
Outcomes & Certification
On completion of the course, participants receive:
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The internationally recognised TA101 Certificate
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14 ICF Continuing Coach Education (CCE) credits
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A certificate of attendance for 24 Hours of Applied TA Training
This means the course offers both recognised certification and practical value you can begin applying straight away.
Entry Point and Progression
TA Foundations is the first step in TA Academy’s wider training pathway and a pre-requisite for anyone wishing to attend TA in Practice.
It can also be completed as a standalone course in its own right. While it forms the first stage of a broader training pathway, participants do not need to commit beyond Foundations in order to gain real value from it. The Foundation course is a chance for people to experience their training style before deciding whether to continue further.
Each stage has value in its own right, so you can begin with Foundations, gain real benefit from the course and then decide whether you want to continue further.
Practical Details
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Format: 5-day in-person module
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Training hours: 36 hours total
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Cost: $1,500 + GST
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Discount: $500 off for people who have already completed a TA101 and can provide their certificate
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Dates and locations: Vary by intake. View upcoming courses here.