Open School is The School of You’s series of free programmes for anyone curious about psychology and human behaviour. Each session takes one psychological idea, question or theory and makes it accessible without oversimplifying it. The aim is to offer thoughtful psychological learning, space for reflection, and ideas that can be used in everyday life. 

“I’m OK, You’re OK” is one of the best-known ideas from Transactional Analysis. But what does it actually mean to see yourself or another person as “OK”? Does OK mean good? Likeable? Right? Equal? And do we occupy one fixed position towards ourselves and others, or do our positions shift depending on who we are with and what is happening?

In this 90-minute session, we will explore the TA concept of life positions: I’m OK, You’re OK; I’m OK, You’re Not OK; I’m Not OK, You’re OK; and I’m Not OK, You’re Not OK. We will look at how these positions influence the way we relate, solve problems and respond to other people. We will also distinguish between the deeper assumptions we may carry about ourselves and others and the positions we move into from moment to moment. Life Position

And finally, we will move beyond I and You to think about We. Keith Tudor argues that people cannot really be understood outside relationships, groups and social contexts. This opens up a different question: perhaps psychological health is not only about whether I am OK and you are OK, but also about what happens between us and what kind of ‘we’ we create together.

Open School — Ideas from Psychology, Freely Shared.