TA IN PRACTICE SYLLABUS
What You’ll Cover in This 5-Day Transactional Analysis Training Module
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 in Practice’ builds on the ten core models introduced in TA Foundations and explores how they can be used to support effective short-term contracts for change with both individuals and groups. It is a practical transactional analysis course focused on helping participants use TA more intentionally in counselling, change work and professional communication.
This five-day programme includes:
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36 total training hours
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TA in Practice Certificate
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Practical and experiential learning focused on professional application
TA in Practice is especially relevant for people already working with clients, colleagues, groups or behaviour change processes who want to strengthen their practical use of TA. It is also the essential next step for those who may wish to continue into the Advanced Professional Training Group.
The Key Topics You’ll Explore
TA in Practice takes the core models of TA and shows how they can be used more actively in professional work. Topics covered include:
Contracting for Change
How to establish clear and effective short-term contracts for change with individuals and groups. This can be used as an effective tool for working with those individuals who are experiencing serious mental health challenges.
TA Ego-State Diagnosis
How to identify ego-state processes more clearly in yourself and others. This provides you with a unique diagnostic tool to assess and work with people who have serious mental health conditions.
Talking to the Parts
Using TA concepts to communicate more effectively with different aspects of a person’s internal experience.
Crossing Transactions
Recognising and responding to unhelpful communication patterns that disrupt effective contact and identifying the most therapeutically effective interventions.
Challenging Discounts
Learning how to recognise and work with the ways people minimise, deny or overlook important aspects of themselves or their situation. This work was pioneered with the use of TA to cure individuals previously diagnosed as ‘incurable’.
Dealing with Script Backlash
Understanding how and why change can trigger familiar resistance or old patterns. The psychoanalytical depth of TA will enable you to appreciate the true causes of regressive and ‘stuck’ behaviours.
Closing Escape Hatches
Exploring how to support stronger commitment to change and reduce common forms of self-harm. This is probably one of the most effective tools you will come across for creating safety and protection for those you work with.
Building a Healthy Stroke Economy
Developing healthier patterns of recognition, affirmation and communication in relationships and professional practice. This speaks to the core requirements of resilience and is a fundamentally ‘nervous system’ approach to trauma.
What You’ll Learn
By the end of the course, participants are expected to:
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Apply the key concepts of transactional analysis theory to work with both individuals and groups
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Identify, make safe and establish a realistic treatment plan with more seriously damaged individuals
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Develop and strengthen the capacity to engage colleagues and clients in effective Adult-Adult transactions
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Understand the four key phases of effective brief therapy and short-term contract work
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Build confidence in working with a wide range of clients and presenting issues
Participants will also gain stronger tools for counselling, change work and professional communication, along with a clearer sense of how to use transactional analysis counselling principles more intentionally in current work. It forms the foundations for those who wish to progress to qualification as a registered psychotherapist.
How the Learning Happens
TA in Practice follows the same core methodology as TA Foundations, while placing greater emphasis on live practical work and skill development. Especial emphasis is placed on:
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Live practical work
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Skill development
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Group discussion about what does and does not constitute effective communication
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Exploration of both somatic and creative interventions
Like the wider TA Academy learning environment, this module blends theory with experiential learning so that participants do not just understand the models, but can apply them more confidently in real-world contexts.
What the Five Days Look Like
TA in Practice is delivered over five days and is designed to be practical, immersive and professionally focused.
Across the course, participants can expect a mix of:
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Theory and model application
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Live practical work
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Group discussion
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Communication and skills practice
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Reflective learning
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Exploration of creative and somatic interventions
This gives the course a rhythm that is active, practice-based and grounded in real professional use.
Outcomes & Certification
On completion of the course, participants receive:
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The ‘TA in Practice’ Certificate
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36 hours of professional training in TA practice
This means the course offers more than theory alone. It provides practical transactional analysis training that helps participants use TA more effectively in your work with individuals and groups.
Entry Point and Progression
‘TA in Practice’ is the second step in TA Academy’s wider pathway and is the essential pre-requisite for joining the Advanced Professional Training Group.
It can also be completed as a standalone module. Its diagnostic and safety features alone make it an invaluable training for anyone already working with clients. When combined with our first module (‘TA Foundations’) it gives existing qualified psychotherapists and counsellors a comprehensive 10-day training in how to integrate the core models of TA fully into your existing work with clients.
So while TA in Practice forms part of a broader TA training pathway, participants can still take this course for its own standalone benefit and professional value.
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 if you book your place on this course within 1 week of attending or completing our ‘TA Foundations’ course.
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Bonus items when booked with or soon after Foundations:
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Effective Communication 7-hour video programme with workbook
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TA workbook for use with short-term clients
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The 12 Communication Protocols for working in organisations booklet
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Entry point: ‘TA Foundations’ is the preferred route into this module, though there may be exceptions. This can be discussed directly with Mandy or Gerry.