This article outlines those characteristics of transactional analysis that qualify it as a humanistic psychotherapy. The central role and responsibility of the client is highlighted, as are TA's concern with psychological health, phenomenology, and psychotherapeutic relations beyond the transference. Berne's unique and neglected contribution–physis as the third great unconscious drive–is emphasized. Physis as a generalized creative drive toward health is linked with the omitted aspiration arrow in the script matrix diagram and described as a potentially unifying symbol for all of humanistic or third-force psychology (Maslow, 1962/1968). The I'm OK–You're OK position is understood as the tragic position–the existential realization that we all share “la condition humaine” (Symington, 1986, pp. 275–276).
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