The words ‘counselling’ and ‘psychotherapy’ are often used interchangeably and there are many similarities between them. The task of counselling is to help people to resolve ‘here and now’ problems and to express thoughts and feelings which are being held or blocked.

There are numerous models of psychotherapy Transactional Analysis (T.A.) is one of them.
Transactional Analysis can best be introduced by a quote from one of its most popular books, 'TA Today'

'“Transactional analysis is a theory of personality and a systematic psychotherapy for personal growth and personal change'. That's the definition of TA suggested by the International Transactional Analysis Association.'  

Among psychological approaches, transactional analysis is outstanding in the depth of its theory and the wide variety of its applications. As a theory of personality, TA gives us a picture of how people are structured psychologically. To do so it uses a three-part model known as the ego-state model. The same model helps us understand how people function - how they express their personality in terms of behaviour. TA also provides a theory of communication.” (www.ita.org.uk/)

If you want to read more about the key concepts and history of Transactional Analysis you can visit the ITAA site  

Psychotherapy works as counselling and also involves a much deeper exploration of the self and the personality, which enables the client to change decisions made very early in childhood and unhelpful or unwanted patterns in their life.

 Psychotherapy is the provision by qualified practitioners of a formal and professional relationship within which clients can profitably explore difficult and often painful, emotions, and experiences. These may include feelings of anxiety, depression, trauma, or perhaps the loss of meaning in one’s life. It is a process which seeks to help the person gain an increased capacity for choice, through which the individual becomes more autonomous and self determined. (UKCP)  www.bacp.co.uk/