Dr Keith Tudor Receives the 2025 Eric Berne Memorial Award

By Dr Mandy Lacy TSTA(O)

It was truly a delight and an honour to be present at the 2025 Eric Berne Memorial Award (EBMA) award presentation for Dr Keith Tudor at the World TA Conference held in Montpellier, France, in August, especially because I had led the nomination group, comprising Giles Barrow (UK), Danijela Budiša Ubović (Serbia), Bill Cornell (USA), Tatjana Gjurkovic (Croatia), Jan Grant (Australia), Izumi Kadamoto (Japan), Trudi Newton (UK), Seán Manning (Aotearoa New Zealand), Marco Mazzetti (Italy), Karen Minikin (UK), Günther Mohr (Germany), and Chitra Ravi (India).

The award ceremony took place on Friday, 8 August 2025, at the close of the first day of the conference, in front of a packed auditorium.

Elvin Aydin Keles, ITAA Director of Research & Innovation, delivered an eloquent and deeply meaningful introduction of Keith. Her moving summary captured the profound impact of Keith’s literature, thinking, and theorising and of Keith himself as a person on the global TA community, an influence that will continue well into the future.

Earlier that morning, in his keynote address, Bill Cornell challenged TA writers and researchers to publish beyond transactional analysis forums in order to share TA’s efficacy with wider audiences. In doing so, he paid special tribute to Keith for advancing the critical and social edge of TA, both within our community and far beyond it. Keith’s receipt of the 2025  Carl Rogers Award from the American Psychological Society stands as further evidence of his far-reaching contributions.

Keith opened his speech with a heartfelt acknowledgement of the support and love of his wife, Louise. His address was exceptionally meaningful, embodying his longstanding practice of critiquing TA both from within and from outside the field, and highlighting the social, radical, and political dimensions of his work. Keith’s acceptance speech will be available in the January 2026 edition of the TAJ. 

In a time of global political unrest, particularly regarding Ukraine and the Middle East Keith paid special homage to these situations. He reminded us that Eric Berne’s political views, expressed throughout his publications, reflected his commitment to crusades against what Berne summarised as the “Four Horsemen”: war, pestilence, famine, and death.

Keith invited us, as transactional analysts, not to shy away from the political, social, or radical. Instead, he urged us to engage with difference, division, conflict, and hurt as opportunities to deepen our understanding of ourselves and others. He emphasised that radical psychiatry both informed TA and was informed by TA, offering an important historical link between politics and transactional analysis.

He closed his acceptance speech with a pre-recorded beautiful waiata, written by a colleague in the rōpū waiata in which Keith sings. The speech was met with a very long standing ovation - a fitting and moving conclusion to an unforgettable occasion.   

Appropriately, Keith’s nomination was – and the citation of the Award reads – “for revitalising and advancing the critical and social edge of transactional analysis and critiquing TA from within and without”.

Keith has contributed numerous publications through books, articles in the TAJ and other peer-reviewed journals representing critique, historical review and the introduction to new thinking, concepts and theory. The nomination focused on three articles that highlight an extraordinary and important contribution to transactional analysis (TA) through originality and innovation that not only represents a major contribution to the history of TA significantly advancing new theory and practice of TA, but has also revived the critical and social edge of TA inclusive of critiquing TA from within and without – and hence the wording of the nomination.

The first article cited in support of the Award is ‘The state of ego’ (2010) in which Keith considers ego state theory in TA, based on the hypothesis that there is a confusion in the TA literature based on different and differing structural models of ego states. We (the nomination group) considered this article is very much aligned to Tudor’s critiquing TA from both within and without.  In this article, Keith clarifies concepts of the ego and ego states. Typically and robustly, he begins with Berne followed by the work of subsequent TA theorists. He notes the distinctions between the two sets of structural ego state models with regards to the definitions of ego states in relation to theories of human development, the concepts of integrations and views about the goal or end of theory. While the article is primarily a contribution to the clinical field, Tudor considers that clarification of the two sets of models and especially the differing views of the Adult, has implications for all applications of TA.

Once again Keith provides an in-depth historical review with heuristic research that identified a number of areas of difference regarding the ontology of the nature of ego states. In doing so he has contributed to a thorough examination of TA ego state development from its origins to the current day which he offers new thinking and theory from which to consider and integrate into the evolution and advancement of ego state TA theory and practice.

This article also provides us with an insight into Keith’s own view of being radical in nature whereby he is willing to challenge and thoroughly examine the history to then support new thinking and theory. It is clear he really wants to understand Berne’s thinking, writing and practice as the foundations from which to put forward a critical viewpoint that investigates both from within and without which has contributed substantially to reviving the critical and social edge of TA.

The second article ‘Transactional analysis and politics’ (2020) offers a critical review of the literature on TA and politics - two subjects that have been rarely joined. It is an excellent example of Keith’s work in reviving the critical and social edge of TA.

Presented is Eric Berne’s own relationship with politics and persecution during the McCarthy era which resulted in him (Berne) taking an apolitical stance. Keith provides a detailed synopsis of Berne’s political views through his various publications that show of his interest and commitment to crusades in what Berne summarised as the ‘Four Horsemen’: war, pestilence, famine and death. 

Keith thoroughly investigates the literature of some 150 publications and found only two references to politics. However, in further investigation, he found that TA literature is aligned more to social psychology where politics is addressed in other ways i.e. social issues, social applications, conflict, social responsibility, gender issues, nuclear disarmament and alike. He concludes that ‘overall, it does appear easier and less controversial in TA to refer to the “social”, as distinct from the “political”.’ (p. 11) 

Radical psychiatry is put forward with particular emphasis on Berne’s thinking and Steiner’s practice of it being the critical analysis of power and oppression that became the cornerstone of the theory and practice. Keith states that radical psychiatry was informed by TA and that TA was informed by radical psychiatry and in doing so provides a historical reference to politics and TA. A good example of this is nestled in the third publication cited for the Award, ‘Death, life and legacy’ (2020) in which Keith outlines contracts and that the co-operative contract of radical psychiatry is: ‘no lies, no Rescues, no power plays’ as it related to his communication with Steiner when facing and discussing his death.

Returning to the second article, Keith also presents the terms social psychiatry and social psychology and considers the claims made in reference to and engagement with TA. He goes on to make distinctions between these terms and the influence of radical psychiatry on TA. These distinctions are presented within a conceptual framework for TA and politics demonstrated through examples exhibiting the interplay between TA and politics. 

The conceptual framework is based on Totton’s (2000) suggested four ways of understanding the interplay between these terms.  In application of the framework Keith puts forward a useful taxonomy to further examine TA in politics, TA of politics, the politics of TA and politics in TA. It is an in-depth synopsis of the history and role of politics in TA whereby he gently and firmly challenges a valid place and position for politics in TA today and the future.

As a summary Tudor postulates that the article represents a:

journey from a position of criticism of the lack of politics and specially, of radical and/or progressive politics in and of TA, through the discovery of a lot of politics in TA to, I hope, a more nuanced position that encompasses both a love and hate, or at least, a questioning of fixed ‘positions’.

Keith also hopes that , through providing details of Berne’s life and his ambivalence and activism in politics that we, as Berne put it, will understand the importance of ‘our duty as citizens (to interest ourselves in world events) so that we are not overwhelmed by them to the point of passivity, quietism and inactivity.’ (p. 17).  

The article ends with a strong invitation that ‘the struggle – for necessary, healthy ambivalence as well as activism – continues’ (p. 17). This article is a combination of many aspects including a critical review, and advancing TA theory, further bringing to life Berne’s work and making it relevant for today. 

The final article included in the nomination encapsulates both reviving the critical and social edge of TA along with critiquing TA from within and without. ‘Claude Michel Steiner: Death, life and legacy’ (Chapter 17 in the 2020 book Claude Steiner, Emotional Activist’ (edited by Keith), we (the nomination group) believe shows many aspects of Keith’s contribution to TA, and a TA practitioner being willing to critique to take us to the social edge of TA to be radical to review from within and without - in a gentle, vulnerable and firm way.

This chapter is a powerful example of Keith's work in which his dedication to telling the personal and professional life of Claude Steiner offers many aspects of critical review, taking us to the social edge of TA. It is a beautiful example of both poignancy and potency, through reflecting back and moving forward.  By many accounts and indeed through Keith’s own experience, Steiner was a radical and a controversial man through which Keith maintained a long-term meaningful relationship.  Keith’s attention to detail and his commitment to accurately relaying history, adversities, Steiner’s contributions to TA and emotional literacy, along with the radical and political issues surrounding life, death and legacy as it related to Steiner makes for a very meaningful and personal experience. This chapter combines the story of Steiner’s life and contribution to TA, with Tudor respectfully sharing his relationship and experience of Steiner. Within this sharing, Keith’s critical thinking, compassion, his attention to and research of TA history and theory, along with presenting new thinking is very evident. Through the telling of a very intimate end-of-life experience in the most respectful manner, Keith also poignantly highlights TA and politics, the social edge of TA and a critique of reviewing TA from within and without.

In summary, the three articles presented for this EBMA nomination are significant contributions to the history of TA; the development of new theory particularly, in this case, ego state theory; and the honouring of past contributions that have influenced TA.  Together, these articles potently highlight the relationship to previous work and research in TA and the related theories of ego systems, radical psychiatry, social psychology and social psychiatry. Tudor uniquely and thoroughly presents Berne and TA history with academic rigour from the standpoint of where Berne’s theory, concepts and contributions can be further developed. Within this discourse, Tudor has a unique talent for picking up past radical ideas in TA that haven’t been talked about for some time and presenting them in a way that still makes them applicable. The publications included for this Award are evidence of critical thought, review and explanations that provide a glimpse into Keith’s own commitment to the value and need for reflection, radical thinking and discussions to the ongoing relevancy of TA theory and practice.