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	Personal and Professional Effectiveness Assignment: Spring 1998.
        
        
        Diploma in Careers Guidance, College of Guidance Studies, Swanley.
        
        Cole Davis
        
            Self-analysis and action plan, related to gifted children  in 
        a context of equal opportunities.
        
        
                            PART ONE: SELF-ANALYSIS:
        
        Choice of subject:  
        
           My  work experience and training has involved experience of  a 
        wide  range  of  equal opportunities  issues  and  categories  of 
        special  needs.    Within Brent and Hackney  Social  Services,  I 
        worked  with clients and colleagues from a wide range  of  ethnic 
        backgrounds;  this  work also raised issues relating  to  diverse 
        sexual  orientations.   I have studied gender  issues,  including 
        conducting  a  questionnaire  survey  which  supported   previous 
        research  on women in the workplace.  I also have  experience  or 
        knowledge  of people with emotional and behavioural  disturbance, 
        mental  illness  and  dementia,  learning  disabilities,  autism, 
        sensory  impairment, and physical and multiple  disabilities,  as 
        well  as  ex-offenders,  the sexually  abused  and  abusing,  and 
        children with skin disorders.
        
           I  decided to select a group with which I had  little  overall 
        knowledge  or  formal contact, gifted children.   This  arbitrary 
        decision, however, elicited deep emotional responses.
        
        Gifted children: an overview
        
        "Golden lads and girls all must,
         as chimney sweeps, come to dust."  Shakespeare, Cymbeline.
        
           The identification of gifted children is problematic.   George 
        (1992)  cites  the gloomy educational assessments  of  Beethoven, 
        David Bellamy, Winston Churchill, Roald Dahl, Albert Einstein and 
        Isaac  Newton.   Teachers  are now  assisted  by  checklists,  to 
        counteract biases such as the perceived 'attitude' of some gifted 
        children, and also by tests of aptitude and general  intelligence 
        (Denton and Postlethwaite, 1985).   (Space precludes a discussion 
        of  the  nature of intelligence; the assumption here is  that  as 
        most  measures  of ability correlate strongly with  'g',  general 
        intelligence is the primary consideration, differential intellect 
        to  be considered here as 'aptitudes'.  C.f. Guilford [1956]  and 
        Thurstone [1938] for alternative perspectives).
        
           High  intelligence  does not necessarily  predict  a  creative 
        bent,  although many studies settle on about IQ 120 as a  minimum 
        basis  for  producing  lasting creative  work   (Freeman,  1991).  
        Assuming  IQ is used as a rough guide, there is little  consensus 
        amongst schools about the level corresponding with giftedness; in 
        Britain,  this ranges from more than 120 to 140 and above, 3%  to 
        1%  of  the school population (National  Association  for  Gifted 
        Children, 1991).   It would seem reasonable, however, to assume a 
        close general relationship between giftedness and intelligence. 
        
           Modern concern with intelligence started with Francis Galton's 
        study of 'Hereditary Genius' in 1869.  Rapid Advancement  Classes 
        for  high  achievers were conducted in New York City  from  1900.  
        Lewis Terman started a monumental programme (1925-9) in which  he 
        studied  the progress of children with IQs of 140 or above  (well 
        within the top 1% of the school population).
        
           Terman and his successors came to three particularly important 
        conclusions about the nature of high intelligence: firstly, there 
        is  no support for the popular notion of compensating  weaknesses 
        or deficiencies in character, stability or health (Freeman, 1991, 
        supports  this,  but  notes that the  wearing  of  spectacles  is 
        significant!); secondly, creative and original talent is rare and 
        unpredictable; third, general intelligence is the most  important 
        psychological  variable currently measurable and,  despite  large 
        individual  changes in IQ, "the most stable and  predictive  over 
        the life span."  (Butcher, 1968).
        
           A  large proportion of Terman's subjects proved to  be  richly 
        talented,  although not necessarily possessing  'genius'.   
             "This   single  study  remains  the   most   convincing 
             demonstration  of how astonishingly well the  one  much 
             criticised variable, measured intelligence, can predict 
             level of achievement for decades."  (Butcher, 1968).
        
            Whilst  not being a thoroughly reliable predictor  of  future 
        performance,  intelligence  can thus be seen as an asset  on  the 
        whole  rather  than a disability.  Deficits are likely to  be  in 
        their   environment,  in  parenting,  social  circumstances   and 
        education (Young and Tyre, 1992).   
        
           Joan   Freeman,  between  1974  and  1978,  studied   children 
        identified  as gifted by their parents, matched with two  control 
        groups  of  children, one of equal intelligence but not  seen  as 
        gifted,  the  other  being a random  sample.   Social  behaviour, 
        frequently being described as 'difficult', tended to mark out the 
        'gifted' group from the children of equal ability, as did  living 
        in  unusual circumstances.  "All of the  children's  achievements 
        were  found  to  be directly  related  to  educational  provision 
        (whether  at home or school) and to the example rather  than  the 
        expectations of their parents."  (Freeman, 1991).
        
           A follow-up study between 1985 and 1988 found that not all the 
        highly  intelligent young people fulfilled their  extremely  high 
        promise.
        
             "The   reasons  were  partly  due  to  their   personal 
             circumstances,  but  also  to  inadequate   educational 
             provision.   However,  some schools  had  abused  their 
             pupils'   potentials   by   force-feeding   them    for 
             examination  honours,  and  most  did  not  provide  an 
             adequate  preparation  for university  life  and  work.  
             Teachers  often seemed unwilling to be close  to  their 
             pupils, and an improvement in counselling seems  vital.  
             Such   matters   as   self-confidence   and    personal 
             relationships  can be as important in education as  the 
             often   excellently  taught  mastery  of   skills   and 
             knowledge."  (Freeman, 1991).
        
        
           Parental  attitudes,  whether  discouraging  or  over-zealous, 
        could  lead to peculiar role-playing which might in turn lead  to 
        unfortunate reactions from fellow pupils, including bullying,  or                                                    
        under-achievement  through fear of failure.   Cultural  attitudes 
        may have a bearing.  Impoverished backgrounds can fail to nourish 
        learning  and  may  lead  to feelings  of  discomfort  or  direct 
        snobbery  at  prestigious universities  (Freeman,  1991).    Poor 
        educational provision may be a factor, as well as 'force-feeding' 
        for examination honours.  
        
           Vocationally, 'university potential' may be the  strait-jacket 
        worn by the very able.  This may be intended to boost confidence, 
        but does not lead to sensible course choice for those who can  do 
        most  things well; drop-outs are not uncommon.    Others may  not 
        want  university  at  all  (wanting  to  engage  in  crafts,  for 
        example),  or may not be emotionally ready for higher  education.  
        Unfortunately,  academically gifted individuals would  seem  less 
        likely  than  others to receive  vocational  guidance.  (Freeman, 
        1991)
        
           Such a situation may impact upon gifted girls, who may need to 
        be  more  psychologically independent than boys  to  reach  their 
        potential  and  may need to be made more aware  of  untraditional 
        career  routes  (Freeman,  1996).   
        
           Boys, however, may  be more prone to family discord than girls 
        (Quinton  and  Rutter,  1985),  with  drastic  effects  upon  the 
        achievement of individual potential:
        
             "...  distress  had not acted like the  grain  of  sand 
             under  the shell of the oyster - none of these  unhappy 
             children  looked ready to produce any pearls of art  or 
             poetry.  In fact, they had generally achieved less well 
             than those of the same ability who had enjoyed peace of 
             mind.   Though there were hopeful signs that  some  had 
             begun to grow out of their childhood problems,  others, 
             such   as  some  young  scientists,  appeared   to   be 
             entrenched  in a poor self-image for life.  I hazard  a 
             guess  that in spite of their innate  brilliance,  they 
             will not mature into Einsteins or Linus Paulings."
                                                     (Freeman, 1991)
        
           Perhaps  the category of interest should be  'the  potentially 
        highly able' rather than 'gifted children.'
        
        Personal views on equal opportunities
        
           To begin with, I affirm my antagonism to unfair discrimination 
        in  recruitment,  working conditions and provision  of  services.   
        The  bases of discrimination are normally membership of  minority 
        or  lower status social categories, but may also be the  personal 
        dislikes   of  those  doing  the  discriminating  (for   example, 
        irrelevant    considerations    of   personality    or    looks).  
        Conventionally, however, interest in equal opportunities tends to 
        centre around race, gender, and selected special needs.
        
           My  challenge to equal opportunities is that the theory  often 
        leads  to  either  broad and complacent sounding  utopias  or  to 
        narrow issue-focused views of the world.  The former in  practice                                                     
        means  that  apparently  caring  and  inclusive  policies   allow 
        injustices  to  be visited upon individuals in the  interests  of 
        appearing  to be fair-minded; many job applicants,  for  example, 
        have  attended  interviews, revealing their intentions  to  their 
        current  employers in the process, only to find that  an  insider 
        has  been earmarked, the remainder of the shortlist  existing  to 
        provide  credentials  for  a  recruiter wanting  to  be  seen  as 
        'working  towards  equal  opportunities'.    Issue-focused  equal 
        opportunities,  on the other hand, allows the exclusion of  those 
        minorities  not registered by statute, policy  or  fashion:  real 
        examples experienced or observed by myself have included "I don't 
        want  to be ageist, but ...", "you're only an agency  staff"  and 
        "white members of staff"....
        
           Perhaps the most pernicious practice to be promoted widely  by 
        practitioners  of careers guidance, management  and  occupational 
        psychology is that of networking.  Given the tendency of like  to 
        mix  with  like, and the most dominant grouping to be  white  and 
        middle class (and male in the upper echelons), no better designed 
        method   of  perpetuating  indirect   discrimination,   including 
        institutionalised racism, could be inaugurated without a word  of 
        protest.
        
           The  greatest improvements in attitudes have been  created  by 
        legislation  to prevent victimisation and  unnecessary  exclusion 
        (in  Britain,  the Race Relations Act, 1976;  Sex  Discrimination 
        Act,  1975, 1986; and Disability Discrimination Act,  1995)  and, 
        where extremities have been avoided, in specifying acceptable and 
        unacceptable  modes  of language.  The success of the  latter  is 
        demonstrated  by the point that some words and attitudes used  in 
        1960s  situation comedies would now be considered  embarrassingly 
        out  of date by most television viewers; indeed,  the  previously 
        pioneering   concept   of  comedies  focusing   on   mixed   race 
        relationships  no  longer  seems saleable  to  a  media  industry 
        dominated by viewer ratings.
        
           As  well  as  work still to be done in  what  are  now  almost 
        traditional  areas,  including fairer recruiting of  people  from 
        diverse  ethnic  origins and promotion of women  at  the  highest 
        levels, we may attempt to circumscribe the tendency of people  to 
        discriminate  unfairly  against  anyone  not  protected  by  law.  
        Perhaps  the  move  forward  is to  promote  the  achievement  of 
        individual  potential  in all cases.  Such a direction  does  not 
        move on a course away from gender issues (including undereducated 
        males)  or  ethnic diversity, but attempts general  fairness  for 
        those  who can - at times with assistance - perform  a  function, 
        aspire to a qualification, or attain a lifestyle.
        
        The professional challenge of the gifted:
        
           Gifted  children are apparently part of an elite, probably  in 
        the  top percentile of the population in terms of I.Q. and  maybe 
        from  middle  class  homes.   They  may  still  be  educationally 
        disadvantaged (not catered for), socially disadvantaged (poor  or 
        within an unaccepting community) and emotionally unsettled (maybe 
        from  a  dysfunctional family).  Their needs may be  overlooked,                                                     
        however,  given  the current - understandable - emphasis  on  the 
        plight of those requiring the diminishing number of manual jobs.
        
           It would seem clear that the careers adviser should be  taking 
        into  account individuals' characteristics and backgrounds  -  as 
        with all clients - including intellectual capacity.  The  latter, 
        however,   should  not  mean  an  automatic  'graduate   calibre' 
        response, unqualified by these other factors.
        
           Careers   services  and  other  promoters  of  labour   market 
        information - e.g. The Independent newspaper - should perhaps  be 
        a little cautious in their tendency to equate the word 'graduate' 
        with  'high-flier'.  Aspirations, motivation and personality  may 
        militate  against  such generalisations, but individuals  may  be 
        become frustrated by their inability to meet what would appear to 
        be common performance norms.  A need for self-awareness should be 
        included in discussions of entry into the labour market.
        
           It  is  not  necessarily the case  that  highly  able  clients 
        require  additional support, especially in the face of  the  many 
        more  obviously  needy clients.  It is suggested,  however,  that 
        practitioners  and  careers services should not  be  skimping  on 
        assisting  individuals because of their intellectual  assets.   A 
        high  I.Q. does not guarantee knowledge of opportunities,  mature 
        decision-making, or happy transitions.
        
        Personal challenges:
        
          Apart from the challenges to careers advisers generally,  there 
        are personal issues which I need to consider.
        
           Whilst   bright  and  studious  (noting  Edison's   ratio   of 
        inspiration  to  perspiration),  I  would  not  consider   myself 
        outstanding  in terms of intellect or achievement.  At  the  same 
        time,  a formally measured I.Q. of 154 (within the top 2% of  the 
        British population) suggests that I am at least potentially  very 
        able.
        
           In terms of bias, therefore, I must consider whether or not  I 
        am overly concerned by the fate of the highly able.  Given that I 
        chose  this grouping as a category not dealt with in my  previous 
        career,   this  does  not  seem  particularly  likely.    It   is 
        nevertheless a consideration for the future.
        
           The  opposite has been the case until now.  I have  failed  to 
        consider  their  needs until dealing with  this  assignment  and, 
        along  with  many  others,  could  therefore  be  seen  to   have 
        indirectly   discriminated.    Provision  of  services   to   the 
        potentially highly able has been excluded from my agenda.
        
           More  plausible  as  a likely problem is  the  possibility  of 
        feeling jealous or a subconscious desire to compete.  Apart  from 
        being less than gifted, such feelings may emerge from  resentment 
        in terms of social class and relative disadvantage. 
                        
            I  come  from  a  lower  middle  class  background,  with  my 
        grandparents'  generation emerging from the immigrant  population 
        of London's east end.  As an adolescent, I was not brought up  to 
        be  particularly  ambitious. Whilst my parents were  keen  on  me 
        becoming  the  first member of my family  to  attend  university, 
        their  career  suggestions  were either  lower  than  my  ability 
        warranted  or  were  unrealistic  when  considered  alongside  my 
        personal strengths and weaknesses.  These were the results of  an 
        understandable  lack of knowledge.  (My family education gave  me 
        one  insight: the real 'Del Boy' and Lovejoy were  generally  not 
        harmless characters).
        
           The town to which my family had moved made me aware of  social 
        differences.  At the Jewish Sunday school, my brother and I  were 
        clearly different in terms of class and were sometimes treated as 
        such.     I attended a secondary modern school, having failed the 
        local  equivalent of the 11-plus, abandoned in many parts of  the 
        country.  
        
            Within the school, I learned how to fight in self-defence and 
        became  hardened  to  anti-semitic abuse,  from  pupils  and  the 
        occasional  teacher.   I  was encouraged by my  father  to  react 
        violently rather than to complain and became a fairly  pugnacious 
        adolescent,  who  whilst not physically  provocative,  no  longer 
        backed away from confrontations.  
        
           The  social deprivation of a dysfunctional family  has  become 
        clearer  to  me  in  recent years through  recent  events  and  a 
        parallel growth in my understanding of psychology.  
        
           The  writing  of  this  piece  of  work  coincides  with   the 
        anniversary  of  an event which has marred my life  and  that  of 
        other  members  of  my family.  My mother's suicide  led  to  the 
        resurfacing  of feuds and disturbing reminiscences  from  various 
        members of my family.  
        
           Over  at  least  three  generations,  acts  of  physical   and 
        emotional  abuse have been endemic in  some of the  relationships 
        within  my  family.  The tangled skein came  together  over  many 
        years  to  produce the bitter harvest of one early  February  six 
        years ago.
        
           I  have been disadvantaged compared to many other people  with 
        similar levels of ability.  In the past, this was only evident to 
        me  as  being  'different' from most of  my  fellow  students  at 
        university and having very little financial backing.
        
           A  modest  and unconventional social background  (compared  to 
        some) may also be seen as the precursor to more direct and recent 
        emotional disturbance.  My bereavement in traumatic and confusing 
        circumstances  (police  questioning,  grandparental  grief-ridden 
        arm-twisting, and helping to organise bodyguards for the funeral) 
        led  to bouts of clinical depression, with some effects  upon  my 
        ability  to  form relationships  and to  hold  down  increasingly 
        demanding  jobs, with ensuing financial problems  tightening  the 
        'vicious circle'.
      
           In  the year that followed  the bereavement, I  completed  the 
        final  year  of   another  degree,  in  psychology  at  the  Open 
        University,  with  a First Class continuous  assessment  average.  
        This   occurred  in  spite  of  periods  of   intense   emotional 
        disturbance (including leaving that year's summer school  early). 
        My  examination performance - never my strongest point -  let  me 
        down and I received a lower second, ruining my ambitions to apply 
        for clinical psychology training.
        
           In  order to strengthen my qualifications, I entered  Birkbeck 
        College's distance learning MSc in occupational psychology via  a 
        waiting  list.  Fellow students tended to be successful  managers 
        and  psychologists  from respectable backgrounds.   The  feedback 
        from  my  own study group was interesting.  I was still  seen  as 
        'different',  well-liked  by  most,  and  capable  of   producing 
        original  ideas.  Applications for jobs in this  discipline  were 
        met with rejection, however, presumably because of my poor degree 
        classification  and  undistinguished work  background  (in  basic 
        grade  and junior management social care, although this does  not 
        do  justice to achievements within these posts).  The  prevalence 
        of networking in the recruitment process, most gaining  contracts 
        through personal contacts, also worked against me.
        
           In many respects, then, I resemble the potentially able people 
        who  failed to surmount barriers erected by circumstance.  It  is 
        nevertheless my personal responsibility to continue to strive for 
        excellence  and,  perhaps, happiness.  Much of this  lies  within 
        providing for others and 'doing no harm'.
        
           Given  the  above  background, it is possible that  I  may  be 
        inclined  to  belittle  -  if only  privately  -  the  very  real 
        emotional  and  social  problems  of  people  from  more   serene 
        backgrounds.    I also need to guard against envy of people who - 
        sometimes with considerably less effort - are likely to do better 
        than  me  and to have a happier life.  My duty is  to  facilitate 
        such an end! 
        
           I  am assisted, however, by the fruits of experience:  I  know 
        the dangers of uncontrolled anger and the potential damage caused 
        by  the exercise of various forms of power, emotional as well  as 
        physical and am more likely to understand the feelings of  others 
        with  similar experiences.   The divorcing of emotional  leverage 
        from professional practice is one of the lessons of assertiveness 
        training (c.f. Murdock and Scutt, 1993).
        
           A  brief 'SWOT' analysis follows, on which to build an  action 
        plan.   Given  that  SWOT is generally  a  management  tool  (for 
        example,  referring to threats from organisational  competitors), 
        it has been somewhat amended in this context.
        
        Strengths:
        Knowledge  leading  to  understanding  and  empathy  with  people 
        suffering   from   social  alienation,   emotional   disturbance, 
        frustration, and uneasy awareness of intellectual strengths.
        Intellectual ability allowing me to adapt:
        Current  and  previous  professional  training  and  experience:                                                    
        counselling    skills,   guidance   skills,    teaching/training, 
        psychological assessment, stress interventions, special needs.
        Maturity to deal with weaknesses.
        
        Weaknesses (or 'points for development')
        Impulsive personality.
        Occasional vulnerability to depression (especially January; other 
        people's   post-Christmas  blues  combined  with   the   upcoming 
        anniversary).
        Getting older (employers generally do not support, regardless  of 
        equal opportunities campaigns and the related media support).
        Possible feelings of envy or competition, based upon similarities 
        and differences with some clients.
        
        Opportunities
        Fresh  career  start  with DCG (with potential  advantages  as  a 
        qualified psychometric test user and NVQ assessor).
        Wide band of potential employment (colleges as well as companies, 
        Ireland  and  other  countries, possible  self-employment  as  an 
        occupational psychologist in further future).
        Networking, if I choose.
        
        Threats
        Economic downturn (current far eastern economic downturn may have 
        implications for the west).
        Higher  education attitudes to my degree  classification  (London 
        University did not even shortlist me for a recent guidance post).
        Employers' attitudes to my accent and modest employment record (a 
        fellow  university student from the old days said I would  always 
        sound like a barrow boy).
        Some employers may consider me over-qualified.
        

                             PART TWO:  ACTION PLAN:
        
        Objectives:
        a: gaining first hand experience of working with potentially able 
        people who need assistance;
        b:   using  my  self-knowledge  to  enhance  such   assistance;
        c:  linking my findings to research and theory (in that order, as 
        I am very much an empiricist);
        d:  maintaining good quality personal performance, emotionally as 
        well as behaviourally.
        
        Actions:
        a:  casework as a full-time careers worker:  possible  free-lance 
        work as an occupational psychologist;
        b:  private  reflection  and, where appropriate  (more  in  adult 
        guidance), some self-disclosure in interviews; discussion  within 
        professional supervision and/or appraisal sessions;
        c:  private  reading  and  research,  including  submissions   to 
        journals;   discussions  in  supervision,  where   possible   and 
        appropriate;
        d:  private reflection: supervision/appraisal sessions.
                
        Time and environments:
        a: dependent upon where I am able to get a job, but there  should 
        be  opportunities within most careers guidance  settings,  during 
        and after gaining DCG Part Two: possible extension to independent 
        sector  (e.g.  tutorial  schools where  young  people  are  often 
        uncertain of their futures) as a weekend free-lance  occupational 
        psychology commitment; 
        b: as above;
        c:  part  of  ongoing  supervision  for  occupational  psychology 
        Chartering (part-time, over some years);
        d: ongoing, in and outside of work; life-long.
        
        Evaluations
        a:  assess where possible and tactfully record potential  discord 
        in  action  plans  (e.g.  lack of  harmony  between  ability  and 
        personal  aspirations, parental ambitions, social  difficulties), 
        then measuring effectiveness in terms of employment, training and 
        job  satisfaction outcomes, as well as client  satisfaction  with 
        the guidance process; the latter and efficiency, the relationship 
        between  input  and output, is likely to be carried  out  by  the 
        careers  service  in  most instances, with  my  contributions  to 
        action  plans, returns and audits, although I may do this  myself 
        during future free-lance work;
        b: record overviews of behavioural aspects of such work, omitting 
        identifiable  features,  in continuous  professional  development 
        (careers)  and  in recordings for chartering as  an  occupational 
        psychologist:  the emotional aspects would generally be a  matter 
        for  private self-evaluation, except where there is  evidence  of 
        direct transference or countertransference (c.f. psychoanalytical 
        theory),  the  latter  being  discussed  with  the   occupational 
        psychology supervisor;
        c:  recording in occupational psychology chartering file and  CPD 
        (careers  and/or  occupational  psychology);  possible   research 
        articles,  which would include statistical analyses of  validity, 
        whether  or  not data measures what it purports to  measure,  and 
        reliability, its general stability;
        d: as b.
               
              
                                    APPENDIX
        
        
           In  recognition  of  the relationship of  this  assignment  to 
        Accreditation  of Prior Learning, a few areas of course  material 
        not selected for inclusion are now briefly discussed.
        
           In  terms  of  learning  style,  I  prefer  relatively  linear 
        processes.    Unlike  some  more  holistic  thinkers,  I   prefer 
        scientific  reductionism  and am inclined to think  in  terms  of 
        cause  and effect; Newtonian philosophy still suffices  for  most 
        purposes. 
        
           Freeman  (1991)  would  argue  that  this  is  an  outcome  of 
        emotional  disturbance  affecting concentration, leading  to  the 
        adoption  of  a  strategy of successive  mental  processing.  She 
        assumes  that  simultaneous  processing  yields  more   efficient 
        methods;  given my poor examination results, I begin  to  concur.  
        
             "...  nearly  all children from  emotionally  disturbed 
             backgrounds  so  often  fail  to  develop  their   full 
             potentials.   Instead, a child may exercise his or  her 
             talents by becoming streetwise instead of schoolwise."
        
           Whilst  such  toughness is apparent in my  character,  I  have 
        blended  this  with  a continued  enthusiasm  for  learning.   An 
        analysis  of my style, using the Kolb model, suggests that  I  am 
        fairly rounded in the elements referred to.
        
           Force-field analysis, as pioneered by Kurt Lewin, is a  method 
        of  identifying  and  weighing  up the  forces  of  momentum  and 
        resistance  to necessary changes.  I felt that this would  be  of 
        more  use  in consideration of a  specific  problem-solving  task 
        rather than the more general and personal issue discussed.
        
           Johari's Window (see the work of Rom Harre) is a graphical way 
        of examining the relationships between the known and the unknown, 
        within one's public and private domains.
        
           Transactional  Analysis may be used in applying  psychodynamic 
        principles to professional life.  I do not deny the existence  of 
        transference  and  countertransference,  referred  to  as   'ego-
        states',  the effects of parental injunctions (Berne,  1964)  and 
        even  the existence of life 'scripts' (Berne, 1974).   I  do  not 
        believe,  however, that they come into play as much as  followers 
        of  Freudian psychology would like us to believe.   Moreover,  my 
        personal   experiences   of   the   use   of   T.A.   and   other 
        psychotherapeutic techniques within the workplace would  indicate 
        that  these  are intrusive and damaging.  This  is  supported  by 
        Masson  (1992)  who  considers  therapy of all  kinds  to  be  an 
        imposition of a therapist's version of reality onto others and by 
        Eysenck who considers psychotherapy to be both inferior to  other 
        therapies,  such  as  behaviour therapy,  (1960)  and  positively 
        injurious to clients (1952).
        
        
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