TAAANZ HISTORY
The History of Transactional Analysis in Aotearoa New Zealand
From pioneering practitioners to a growing national and international community.
Our beginnings: The 1970s and 1980s
Transactional Analysis (TA) has a rich history in Aotearoa New Zealand, with its roots extending back to the 1970s. Over more than five decades, TA has developed into an internationally connected professional community encompassing psychotherapy, counselling, education, organisational development, supervision and personal growth.
The history of TA in New Zealand is fundamentally a story of people, relationships and learning communities. From its beginnings, experienced practitioners brought international knowledge and expertise to New Zealand, established training programmes and supported successive generations of TA practitioners.
Five people were particularly influential in these early developments: Ian McDougall, Evan Sherrard, Robin Maslen, Charlotte Daellenbach and Ken Mellor.
In 1974, Ian McDougall began facilitating TA psychotherapy training in Wellington. Having trained with Bob and Mary Goulding in California, Ian established a training group in Wellington that continued for more than a decade. He also developed assessment procedures for TA accreditation, and several of his trainees went on to establish training programmes elsewhere in New Zealand. His contribution earned him recognition as the grandfather of Transactional Analysis in New Zealand.
Evan Sherrard was another significant pioneer. Following training in the United States, including also training in redecision therapy with Bob and Mary Goulding, Evan returned to Auckland and established the Human Development Team under the Presbyterian Social Services. From the mid-1970s, this became an important centre for experiential learning, counselling, psychotherapy, group leadership, family therapy and community development. Evan also brought international trainers to New Zealand, extending the reach and influence of TA.
In Christchurch, Charlotte Daellenbach played a central role in developing psychotherapy training and national learning communities. After achieving her Certified Transactional Analyst (CTA) qualification in 1985, she taught throughout the South Island, supervised trainees and organised residential training programmes that brought together practitioners at different stages of professional development.
Australian practitioners Robin Maslen and Ken Mellor also contributed to the emerging New Zealand community, establishing connections across the Tasman and with the wider international TA network.
These pioneers laid the foundations for a distinctive New Zealand TA tradition characterised by experiential learning, professional generosity, collaboration and strong relationships between trainers, supervisors and trainees.
Establishing a national association: The 1990s
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, TA training communities had developed across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
In 1991, the New Zealand Transactional Analysis Association (NZTAA) was established, providing a national professional home for TA practitioners, trainers, supervisors and trainees. The new association was internationally connected from its earliest years, including an ITAA–NZTAA conference in 1992.
During this period, residential training programmes became an important feature of the TA community. These multi-day events brought together experienced trainers, supervisors, practitioners and trainees for learning, supervision, personal development and professional connection.
For more than two decades, New Zealand and Australia maintained a tradition of alternating conferences and residential training events. Training institutes in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Sydney contributed trainers and expertise.
These gatherings enabled practitioners to experience TA as a living, relational approach rather than simply a collection of theories and techniques. They supported professional identities and lifelong relationships within the TA community.
Strengthening professional training and recognition
Psychotherapy has historically been a strong area of TA practice in New Zealand. However, TA has also been applied across counselling, education, organisational development, coaching, leadership, community practice and supervision.
The development of internationally recognised TA qualifications provided practitioners with structured pathways through the Certified Transactional Analyst (CTA) and Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (TSTA) systems.
A particularly important milestone was the recognition of the CTA Psychotherapy qualification by the Psychotherapists Board of Aotearoa New Zealand (PBANZ). This work was led by Keith Tudor, Gerry Pyves and John Savage on behalf of the national TA association.
This recognition strengthened the professional standing of TA psychotherapy training in New Zealand and provided an important pathway towards professional registration for eligible graduates. Work has also commenced towards gaining professional recognition and accreditation for TA counselling training through the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC).
These developments reflect a continuing commitment to maintaining internationally recognised TA standards while meeting the professional, ethical and cultural expectations of practice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
TA and Te Tiriti o Waitangi
An important aspect of the development of TA in Aotearoa New Zealand has been the growing recognition of our bicultural context and responsibilities under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
TA emphasises recognition, relationship, mutual respect, autonomy and human development. These principles offer opportunities for meaningful dialogue with Māori perspectives, including understandings of relationships, collective wellbeing, identity and belonging.
At the same time, cultural responsiveness requires more than identifying similarities between TA and Māori concepts. It calls for critical reflection on the Western assumptions embedded in psychological theories and practices, including understandings of individualism, community, power, privilege and cultural identity.
Seán Manning has made a particularly significant contribution to the development of bicultural awareness and practice within New Zealand TA.
Arriving in New Zealand from Belfast in 1975, Seán developed a deep engagement with te reo Māori and Māori cultural perspectives. His professional work has encompassed psychotherapy, addiction, therapeutic communities, violence, criminal justice, teaching and supervision.
Through his writing, professional leadership and training, Seán has consistently encouraged practitioners to consider the cultural and social contexts within which psychological practice occurs. He also contributed to bicultural development through his leadership of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists’ Bicultural Committee and through regional and international TA governance and ethics roles.
Keith Tudor, who immigrated to New Zealand in 2009, has also made significant contributions through his writing and teaching on politics, systemic oppression, critical whiteness, social context and the relationship between psychotherapy and Te Tiriti.
Today, Te Tiriti commitments are reflected in the constitution of TAAANZ and remain central to the continuing development of training, supervision, professional practice and organisational relationships.
New Zealand’s contribution to international TA
Although New Zealand has a relatively small TA community, its practitioners have made substantial contributions internationally through research, publishing, teaching, supervision, governance and professional leadership.
Gordon Hewitt served as ITAA President. Charlotte Daellenbach and Seán Manning served on the ITAA Board, with Seán also chairing the ITAA Ethics Committee. Mandy Lacy, Racquel Beeby and Anne Tucker served as Australasian representatives; Mandy subsequently served as ITAA Secretary, and Anne currently as Vice President of Operations.
Jo Stuthridge served as co-editor of the Transactional Analysis Journal and is currently on the Eric Berne Memorial Award Committee. Fran Parkin contributed to the journal’s editorial community. Judith Klime and Jonathan Kopruch contributed to the regional examination system. Keith Tudor has contributed extensively to international TA scholarship, research and conference leadership.
Keith Tudor has been a particularly prolific contributor to international TA scholarship and has received the Eric Berne Memorial Award, including recognition in 2020 with Graeme Summers and again in 2025.
A significant recent publication is Karangarua: Unity through Diversity in Transactional Analysis, edited by Keith Tudor and Matt Bird and published in 2025. This peer-reviewed collection emerged from the international TA conference held in Wellington in November 2024.
Periods of change and renewal
Like many professional communities, TA in New Zealand has experienced periods of growth, consolidation and change.
From approximately 2012 to 2022, national training activity became less connected. The Wellington TA Training Institute continued to deliver psychotherapy training, while individual trainers, including Keith Tudor at Auckland University of Technology and Mandy Lacy, continued to provide TA101 courses and other professional development opportunities.
In 2022, Keith Tudor invited Mandy Lacy to join him as co-chair of the national association, with a focus on revitalising the TA community and strengthening professional connections.
The association, originally established as NZTAA, is now known as the Transactional Analysis Association Aotearoa New Zealand (TAAANZ), reflecting its identity and commitment to professional practice within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Conferences and examination events in 2024 and 2026, supported by collaboration with the Australian TA community, have contributed to this renewal. The 2026 Training Endorsement Workshop also created opportunities for four additional practitioners to progress towards Provisional Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (PTSTA) status.
A new chapter for TA in Aotearoa New Zealand
TA in New Zealand is entering another period of development.
Alongside the established Wellington TA Training Institute, the creation of the TA Academy Aotearoa New Zealand by Gerry Pyves and Mandy Lacy represents a further investment in the future of TA education and professional development.
With opportunities for training across the four internationally recognised fields of counselling, psychotherapy, education and organisations, there is potential to extend TA’s reach into new professional and community settings.
The future of TA in Aotearoa New Zealand involves both preserving the strengths of its history and responding to emerging professional and societal needs. These strengths include experiential learning, relational practice, professional generosity, international collaboration and a commitment to the development of people and communities.
Our history is not simply one of organisations, qualifications and events. It is the story of a community that has continually learned, developed and renewed itself through relationships.
Acknowledgements
TAAANZ acknowledges everyone who has contributed time and expertise to our national TA association through governance, conferences, newsletters and other professional activities. We especially recognise the generosity of New Zealand trainers and supervisors, past and present, and their contributions to our professional and personal development:
Vicky Blake, Margaret Bowater, Charlotte Daellenbach, Jonathon Evans, Gordon Hewitt, Suzanne Johnson, Geraldine Lakeland, Seán Manning, Charlotte McLauchlan, Carolyn Murray, Fran Parkin, Paula Partington, Gerry Pyves, Janet Redmond, Annie Rogers, John Savage, Evan Sherrard, Jo Stuthridge, Anne Tucker, Keith Tudor and Marion Wade.
Adapted from Transactional Analysis in New Zealand chapter in ‘The Practitioners Handbook of Development Transactional Analysis: A Guide to Working with People and Systems’ (in press), Dr Mandy Lacy, TSTA (October 2026).
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