This book takes the reader on a decolonising journey from the radical roots of transactional analysis to intersectional transactional analysis on the ground, challenging social constructs and constructed truths.
Contemporary Transactional Analysis Through an Intersectional Lens: Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Theory and Practice, is framed by social, cultural, political, and historical contexts, and accounts for systemic oppression – the onslaught of colonisation, supremacies, and systemic racism – which has not been adequately addressed in TA and psychotherapy. Victoria Baskerville draws on social justice and the role of activism, influenced by queer theory, critical race theory, and critical disability studies, to challenge binary social constructs and further contemporary practice. This book amplifies voices of the marginalised and the complexity of intersectional power dynamics, and honours our ancestry and the responsibility we hold as coloniser or colonised – and in many instances, both. Reflecting on the idea that ‘all oppression is connected’, it invites the opening up of mind and heart through the practice of radically open and non-defended dialogue, the call to move from ‘I’ to ‘we’ – a collective awakening – and asking, in each unique encounter: who holds the power? And, ultimately, what is my part in this intersectional dyad?
This book will be an important resource for psychotherapists, counsellors, transactional analysts, and other mental health professionals, students, and educators taking the decolonising journey.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: The journey 2. What is transactional analysis through an intersectional lens? 3. Evolving an inclusive training: The process of deconstructing and decolonising through an intersectional lens 4. A transcultural and intersectional ego state model of the self, 2025: The influence of transcultural and intersectional identity on self and other 5. Deconstructing and reconstructing the curriculum through an intersectional lens 6. All theory and practice placed within systemic oppression through an intersectional lens 7. Relational TA with an intersectional lens: Systemic enactment and working with the shadow of the collective soul 8. Doing the intersectional work: Daring to have radically open and non-defended dialogue 9. The role and influence of activists 10. The evidence, 10,000 cuts: Research on inclusivity and exclusivity in counselling and psychotherapy training and the experience of trainees, in particular with regard to difference Authors: Victoria Baskerville, Nilufar Ahmed, Vikki Nelson, and Gillian Neish 11. Amplifying voices: A collection of dialogues 12. No time: ‘Our house is on fire’, climate change and colonisation 13. Pivotal themes and concluding thoughts Appendices 1. ITAA Social Engagement Committee: Intersectionality Focus Group, 2021 Appendices 2. The multi complexity of difference, a conversation Appendices 3. Critique and development of the Transcultural and Intersectional Ego State Model of the Self, 2022, to the 2025 updated version
About the Author :
Victoria Baskerville (she/her) is an Intersectional Psychotherapist based in multidiverse East London, UK. She founded TA East London Institute, bringing a lens of intersectionality, aiming to account for social, cultural, and political contexts across theory and practice. She is a passionate activist for decolonising TA and psychotherapy practice.
Review :
“With clarity, courage, and intellectual rigour, Victoria Baskerville's transactional analysis is rendered intersectionally, as a practice deeply rooted in socially contextualized, ethical relatedness. Her intelligent voice is personal and unpretentious, yet theoretically and clinically astute. I'm gratified that she has made such good use of my concept of radical openness, thoughtfully weaving it into her vision and bringing vitality to both clinical and conceptual examples. I hope practitioners of all orientations will avail themselves of the wisdom this book offers. It is a generous, timely, and important contribution.”
Anton Hart, PhD, FABP, FIPA, Psychologist-Psychoanalyst and author
“This book is a vibrant and essential addition to contemporary transactional analysis and the broader fields of counselling and psychotherapy. Written with passion and fluidity, it embodies the personal, radical, relational, and systemic dynamics within and around us. The narrative will compel readers to reflect on and reassess their philosophies, theories, and practices as both professionals and citizens. Baskerville intertwines lived experience, critical theory, and clinical insight to examine power, privilege, and identity in consulting, training, and collective spaces. This thoroughly researched and informative book is both inspiring and educational.”
Karen Minikin, Psychotherapist and author
“What Victoria Baskerville has done with this excellent book is to craft a tome which brings transactional analysis into the 21st century. The strength of Baskerville’s beautifully written text is in its embrace of intersectional and decolonial theories – it challenges many of the colonised adaptations that our profession has allowed itself to be co-opted by. By inviting readers of intersectional difference to this theoretical table, there is an important opportunity to explore creatively and decolonise our adapted colonial identities. Baskerville’s eloquent, sensitive, patient, and measured work deserves to find its place amongst the annals of TA literature as transactional analysis embraces and grows from the decolonial richness of the methods and ideas presented here.”
Dr Dwight Turner, Psychotherapist and author
