From Moral Malevolence to Autonomous Performance

Abstract

What does it mean to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex within social contexts that present simplistic, often banal, definitions of gender and presume heterosexuality as the norm? Various coalitions of lesbian, feminist, gay, and more recently gender ambiguity liberation movements have sought to address these questions from an activist stance. The landscape of psychotherapeutic theory as it applies to gender and sexuality has the chance of being reshaped by over three decades of activism and liberation. This article seeks to contribute to a transactional analytic framework for understanding and working with gender and sexuality by referring to contemporary ideas from outside our discipline, in particular, queer theory. The discussion involves a queer examination and critique of selected transactional analysis literature and a guide to a transactional analytic therapy informed by queer concepts for clients of nonheteronormative sex/gender/desire.

Transactional analysis and politics: A critical review

“… Challenging sexism within TA (see Levin, 1977), and adding ‘vigilance’ to the radical psychiatry formula, thus: ‘Awareness + Contact + Vigilance = Liberation’ (p. 91) Challenging the classism and individualism in and of TA (Baute, 1979) Challenging cult‐like phenomena in the TA community (English, 1987, 1998) Offering an examination of TA based on queer theory (Trett, 2004) …”

Being With the Emergence of Transgendered Identity

“…The transactional analysis literature is limited in its writings about sexuality and gender identity. Trett (2004) explored some of Berne’s work and how, as a product of his times, Berne wrote that homosexuality nearly always means a thwarted physis and troubled superego. Barnes (2004) also referred to Berne being a product of his times and how that was corroborated by Berne’s belief that homosexuality was pathological.By believing that homosexuals can change from being the victims of their parental programs and their own childhood decisions, he [Berne] supported the idea that homosexuality is a psychopathology caused by parental instructions and childhood decisions.…”

Why Have Sex?: A Case Study in Character, Perversion, and Free Choice

“…The second effort was at the local gay and lesbian counseling center, where his problem was diagnosed as internalized homophobia, and he was offered a "gay-positive" psychotherapy. Trett (2004) characterized the goal of gay affirmative models as supporting (even insisting on) "coming out," in that "full gender/sexual health is equated with the completion of the coming out process and adoption of a congruent gay or lesbian lifestyle" (p. 159). But, Trett warns, gay affirmative therapy created a normative position, a fixed inner sexual orientation waiting to "come out" via the mechanism of therapeutic affirmation of its existence.…”

“…The theme issue of the Transactional Analysis Journal on gay and lesbian sexuality offered the first sustained discussion of sexuality in the history of the Journal. In it Conley (2004) and Shadbolt (2004) argued for gay affirmative psychotherapies, Johnson (2004) and Kellett (2004) examined factors in the formation of lesbian and gay identities and identity politics, and Trett (2004) proposed a model of transactional analysis treatment informed by queer theory.…”