'Staying OK', the sequel written predominantly by Harris' wife, is a good read for those who want to follow up the theory with some practice. It makes entertaining reading, although it is rather more self-help than the self-enlightenment of the original.

What I found out after reading this book and getting really interested in TA is that in the 60s TA went through a period where it was adopted as a kind of pop-psychology and a number of books were published which are now regarded as over-simplified. Also TA has moved on a lot in the last 30 to 40 years and there are now widely accepted theories and techniques which were not around in the 60s. A much more modern book is TA Today : A New Inroduction to Transactional Analysis,Ian Stewart, Vann Joines . Which I would recommend in preference to this book.

BUT, I got thoroughly irritated by the constant "He\Him" use. Nowadays Political Correctness would ensure that Harris used non-gender terms instead.

"PC" can be over-rated, but Harris was clearly out of date here, and some of his other practices and philosophies are out of step with the more egalitarian world we now live in. Patients have charters, rights, and they expect more choice and respect than are obvious in this writing.

So I was left thinking: "If Harris is out of date in these areas, could his ideas and conclusions also be tired and overtaken by 30years of further study.

Perhaps this is unfair on the author. The book was useful to me, but you need to follow it with something more recent.