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Article

Autonomy with Integrity

Pages 182-199
Published online: 28 Dec 2017
 
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Using Eric Berne's description of autonomy as a starting point, this article presents a reorientation that places transactional analysis and some other psychological models in a broader context. Integrity, in relation to wholeness and morals and ethics, is seen as central to autonomy and a freeing force in people's lives. Awareness, spontaneity, and intimacy, Berne's original capacities, continue to play profoundly necessary parts in understanding autonomy. The orientation proposed here does not replace transactional analysis and other personal change systems but encompasses them by placing them in a simultaneously transcendent and worldly context that honors their ongoing value. Specific techniques by which people may develop and expand their capacities for awareness, spontaneity, intimacy, and integrity are also elaborated.

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Author information

Ken Mellor

Ken Mellor, BA, Dip. Soc. Studs, MPUM, MAASW, MAGPA, is a Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (psychotherapy) who trained in the United States from late 1973 to late 1975. He was the corecipient of the Eric Berne Memorial Scientific Award in 1980 and acted as coordinator of examinations in the Asian-Pacific region for the Training Standards Committee in the mid-to late-1970s. He, with his wife Elizabeth, heads up Biame Network, an international nonprofit educational organization. These days he teaches meditation and advanced spiritual practices and consults to business, schools, and other organizations. His writing includes books and articles on parenting, psychotherapy, spirituality, and urban mysticism. Originally trained as a social worker, he is a master of meditation and a Reiki master. He continues to explore ways of using the immense potential available within us all. Ken can be reached at PO Box 271, Seymour, Victoria 3661, Australia; e-mail ; Web site: http://www.biamenetwork.net.