'Ian Stewart has made the difficult link between theory and practice clear without being patronizing. This is valuable for everyone interested in TA since many concepts can only be fully assimilated when linked to actual examples. Even if you are not in clinical practice, this book would be a useful addition to your library and, for anyone in training or beginning practice, this is required reading' - Group Relations Ian Stewart shows how Transactional Analysis can help the reader to make sense of human experience and behavior. He provides clear information about the meaning of specific key concepts used in TA and how to build an understanding of the person using these. Although Stewart writes for counselors, this is also useful for those who use counseling skills in their day to day roles, or who simply want a way of making sense of their own experience with others. There are skills based practice and discussion exercises, spaces for reflection, and direction to very focused additional reading, to expand and illustrate his points. In this edition Stewart brings us up to date with current developments in TA. Many of the core concepts of TA are covered in a structured and focused way, and brought to life in Stewart's engaging application to a client. Tips, based on experience, and guidance for practitioners, are integral to the book, making this a practical and relevant text for trainees in the TA model and those wishing to use TA as an additional resource to add depth of understanding and choice to their practice. -- Barbara Monk-Steele A most welcomed new edition of a standard Transactional Analysis text which will prove to be an invaluable resource for many. It will appeal to those whose initial training has been in a counselling modality other than Transactional Analysis, and who are now interested in adding Transactional Analysis resources to his or her counselling skills, as well as to those who are already practising or training professionally in Transactional Analysis. This well written edition provides coverage of a number of established Transactional Analysis concepts and the author, Ian Stewart, a well respected member of the Transactional Analysis international community, clearly articulates how to use the concepts whilst working with a client whom he calls John. By choosing one client to apply the concepts are not presented in a vacuum: they become alive and relevant. I appreciate the space for reflection which can be used in a group or individually to promote thought and further discussion; the summary of key ideas to which the reader can easily refer and the indication of further reading which enables the reader to explore and enhance his/her learning and understanding. This is a text which I will be recommending to the students. -- Sue Brady Clear, concise and practical. The fourth edition of Transactional Analysis Counselling in Action is, in my view, the best available introduction to the basic techniques used by TA counsellors and therapists. Both students and more experienced practitioners will find plenty of helpful recommendations and guidance in this accessible and practical text. -- Mark Widdowson

Ian Stewart was born in Glasgow in 1940. He received his secondary education at Glasgow Academy and went on to study at Pembroke College, Oxford. Graduating in 1961, he worked for five years in the scientific Civil Service in Edinburgh. In 1966 he emigrated to England to take up a Research Fellowship at Nottingham University. On conclusion of his research contract he stayed on at Nottingham as a lecturer, gaining his PhD degree in 1970. Ian's first contact with psychotherapy was as a client. While continuing his own personal therapy, he developed a growing interest in the theory and method of psychotherapy generally and transactional analysis in particular. He entered formal TA training in 1979, and gained accreditation as a TA practitioner in 1984. For several years Ian followed two parallel careers, as lecturer and as psychotherapist. In the end, psychotherapy won the day: in 1989 Ian resigned his university lectureship to pursue a full-time career as a TA psychotherapist, writer and trainer. Ian is the author, with co-author Vann Joines, of the basic text on transactional analysis, TA Today. First published in 1987, the book has been translated into fifteen languages and is widely regarded as the world-standard introduction to its subject. Its second edition appeared in 2012. Ian is Co-Director of The Berne Institute, a TA training centre which celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2013. Ian lives in a small village in the backwoods of Leicestershire, together with his wife and three cats. His leisure interests include Morris dancing, cycling, fitness activities generally, and the appreciation of real ale.