I am Chen Lei, President of the China Transactional Analysis Association (CTAA). On April 16, 2026, while sitting with my teacher Thomas in a restaurant in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, he showed me the call for papers from the International Transactional Analysis Association (ITAA). The call was for the May issue, themed as a tribute to Eric Berne and what he means to us. Thomas suggested I submit an article about the development of Transactional Analysis (TA) in China. I had actually received the ITAA email, but I was too busy at the time and had set it aside.

When I picked up my pen to write about this topic, my first thought was that Berne was a great man. The psychological school he founded is the most suitable approach for clearly explaining communication (Berne, 1961). It can be used in psychotherapy, applied to organizational management and educational training, and bring real change to ordinary people.

Taking root in mainland China

I left a foreign company to start my own business in 2010. Later, by chance, I met Thomas and began systematic training in TA. This was a new career path for me. I initiated the CTAA, organized professional training for TA, improved certification standards, and carried out more promotional activities.

Over the past 15 years, my colleagues—such as Lili Xu, Lu Wang, Sili Zhou, Yaying Chen, and Weihua Wang—and I have collaborated with teachers from various countries, including Thomas and Thorsten. We have been focused on one goal: making TA take root in mainland China and bloom even further.

I met Thomas in the spring of 2011 at the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. At the end of that meeting, I did not realize that we would begin a 15-year collaboration to jointly develop systematic TA training and promote its application. From the willow-lined paths of the Old Summer Palace to TA classrooms across many cities nationwide, we have gradually built a localized training system. We promoted Chinese TA books and established certification standards. At the end of each course, seeing the enthusiasm in the students' eyes convinces me that Berne's ideas are not just foreign imports, but vibrant wisdom that has flourished on Chinese soil.

Support through life's challenges

For me personally, these 15 years have been a very important stage in my life. TA has accompanied my family through changes, from my daughter starting elementary school to graduating college and studying abroad. It supported me through the ups and downs of my daughter's adolescence. TA also gave me tremendous support when my beloved father passed away.

While interacting with my teenage daughter, the concept of "I'm OK, You're OK" (Harris, 1969) and the rapid switching of ego states (Berne, 1961) made us realize that we have choices in communication. We learned that we do not have to remain stuck on a certain point of conflict. Facing my father's illness and eventual passing, the companionship of family and friends provided me with great comfort. Those moments of genuine help, long phone calls, shared memories, and tears soothed my anxious heart and helped me survive that painful time.

In 2017, I unexpectedly fell seriously ill, was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), and had a brush with death. Shortly after being discharged, I returned to Thomas's TA 101 class. That day happened to be my birthday, and I was thrilled to see my long-lost teachers and friends again. My partner Lili Xu prepared a cake, while Thomas brought me a gift and gave me a big hug to welcome me back to the real world. That deeply moving moment of being surrounded by love, along with many other warm moments, has supported me to keep going.

TA has helped me better understand the meaning of communication and connection. It helped me appreciate the positive impact of life scripts (Berne, 1972), making my life journey richer. This is fundamentally what Berne means to me.

The power of Transactional Analysis for students

Last Friday, I attended a reading group for new students organized by the CTAA after a TA 101 course. One student shared the changes she experienced during the sessions. Her husband had asked her to go downstairs to accompany their child. In the past, she would have immediately left the reading group to take care of the child, as she was not used to refusing others and feared damaging the relationship. However, this time she changed her approach by using the ego state theory she had learned.

She engaged her Adult ego state and explained that she only had this one hour a week to read TA books and did not want to be interrupted. She calmly told her family they should take responsibility for themselves. The problem was solved, and her husband did not get angry as she had feared. The child was also perfectly fine. Everyone offered warm congratulations after hearing her story because she had learned to express herself, found the courage to refuse, and maintained her boundaries.

This is the true power of TA. People learn to authentically express their emotions and engage appropriate ego states to handle relationship issues. This small story is just a microcosm of our many students. I also remember a student who sent me a text message late one night, two years after receiving her training. She wrote, "Teacher Chen, thank you so much for organizing the TA training. The concept of time structuring, originally created by Berne (1961) and taught by Thomas, has given me a much deeper understanding of the clients in my consulting room!"

I was very moved to hear that. TA is like a magical seed that casually opens a window, helping students understand the world and the clients sitting next to them. I believe these stories represent what Berne means to the students.

A lasting legacy

Berne created TA, and more than 50 years after his passing, TA techniques are still developing. New perspectives are constantly emerging, and they are utilized by people all over the world. This framework has successfully crossed regional and linguistic boundaries. Through the efforts of several generations, TA continues to radiate vibrant vitality, helping thousands of people discover themselves and become better versions of themselves!