Transactional Analysis Transforms Community Care Workers in South Africa

This article describes the use of transactional analysis in psychosocial support programs for community care workers in South Africa. The authors discuss the context and development of this work as well as the modifications made to transactional analysis models to ensure their relevance to the communities being served. The theory of the Cultural Parent and cultural shadow (Drego, 1996) is one aspect that informs the methodology of the wellness programs. The work is also supported by the use of Capacitar techniques (Cane, 2000) and creative activities. The relevance of various learning philosophies (Newton, 2003) to support and influence the transformative elements of the work is detailed, and the social impact of this work with grassroots community care workers is discussed.