Finding our best creative self through a Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy ego state model (Caroline Holden) (part of doing together 25)

Finding our best creative self through a Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy ego state model8th April 2025Transactional Analysis has a central premise, ‘everyone can think’. This workshop investigated how we may extend this concept to explore how ‘everyone can create’.We carry historical internal permissions about ourselves and what we can achieve. However, we can also carry thoughts and feelings about ourselves that discount our potential. During this workshop participants explored these forces through the Transactional Analysis concept of Ego States.Through simple, playful exercises to help us become aware of the best part of our creative selves, participants co-created an understanding of Transactional Analysis Ego States, enabling an understanding of our drives, motivations and discounts.When we are at our creative best our ideas and productivity flow. We can also become 'blocked’ in our artistic imagination. Plans and visions seem to slow down or lose focus. It could be we are experiencing an outdated narrative about ourselves. Rather than the here and now beliefs about our autonomous thinking and creativity.doing together 25doing together is a yearly two-day making and sharing practice symposium at Locksbrook Campus, hosted by the Art Research Centre (Bath School of Art, Film and Media) in collaboration with Bath School of Design and the Centre of Cultural and Creative Industries.doing together is a platform to connect staff, students, and the community through making, collaboration and experimentation.Workshops, delivered by staff and PGR students from across the University, share practice-based research methods and a broad range of approaches to practice. doing together is proposed as a generous space to make/do/share and discuss practice with colleagues from a range of different Schools.Throughout the symposium, facilitators – alongside participants – test out ways of doing together in an effort to make their practice-based research explicit, rather than simply describe it.