Integracja analizy transakcyjnej i monodramy w psychoterapii dorosłych kobiet autystycznych: narracyjne studium przypadku procesu terapeutycznego
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Autistic women are often diagnosed in adulthood, following many years of functioning under conditions of extensive camouflaging, overadaptation, and secondary relational trauma. In clinical practice, this is associated with high levels of anxiety and depression, difficulties in emotional regulation, and fragmentation of the sense of self. The aim of this article is to present monodrama and transactional analysis as a cognitively accessible and clinically useful therapeutic approach for working with autistic adult women. The paper adopts a narrative-clinical format and is based on a detailed description of the therapeutic process of an autistic patient with a history of relational trauma. Monodrama and transactional analysis are presented as complementary frameworks for organising the patient’s internal experience while integrating parts work and somatic regulation.
Over the course of therapy, clinically meaningful improvements in functioning were observed. The patient reported a substantial reduction in anxiety symptoms, particularly in crowded environments, and developed a greater capacity for emotional self-regulation within her window of tolerance. Eating behaviours became more organised and balanced, shifting towards nutritionally adequate and health-supportive patterns appropriate for an adult working woman. The patient also gained deeper insight into her relationships with both parents and began to reconsider previously rigid and generalised negative beliefs about men, which became noticeably less pervasive. Importantly, therapeutic progress was reflected not only in symptom reduction but also in growing self-agency – the patient increasingly developed the ability to care for herself and relied less exclusively on external sources of support. These changes suggest that approaches emphasising experiential processing, relational meaning-making, and accessible symbolic work may support psychological integration and autonomy in autistic women with histories of relational trauma.
This is the Polish version of the article.
Link to the English version.
DOI of the English version: https://doi.org/10.16926/eat.2026.15.03.en
Downloads
Article Details
Issue
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
AUTHOR'S STATEMENT
I am aware that the Educational Transactional Analysis journal is published under a Creative Commons license - Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode).
By submitting the article, I agree to make it available under this license
How to Cite
References
Berne, E. (1998). What Do You Say After You Say Hello? The Psychology of Human Destiny. HarperCollins.
Berne, E. (2010). Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships. Penguin Books.
Bielańska, A. (Ed.). (2009). Psychodrama: Elementy teorii i praktyki. Eneteia.
Jagieła, J. (Ed.). (2011). Analiza transakcyjna w edukacji. Wydawnictwo Akademii im. Jana Długosza w Częstochowie.
Jagieła, J. (2012). Słownik analizy transakcyjnej. Wydawnictwo Akademii im. Jana Długosza w Częstochowie.
Kellermann, P. F. (1992). Focus on Psychodrama: The Therapeutic Aspects of Psychodrama. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Moreno, J. L. (1946). Psychodrama (Vol. 1): Foundations of Psychotherapy. Beacon House.
Ogden, P., & Fisher, J. (2015). Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment. W. W. Norton & Company.
Stewart, I., & Joines, V. (2009). TA Today: A New Introduction to Transactional Analysis. Lifespace Publishing.
Belcher, H. L., Morein-Zamir, S., Stagg, S. D., & Ford, T. (2022). Sex differences in psychiatric comorbidity in autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research, 15(2), 297–309. https://doi.org/10.4088/PCC.21m03189
Bird, G., & Cook, R. (2013). Mixed emotions: The contribution of alexithymia to the emotional symptoms of autism. Translational Psychiatry, 3, e285. https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2013.61
Cage, E., & Troxell-Whitman, Z. (2019). Understanding the reasons, contexts and costs of camouflaging for autistic adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(5), 1899–1911. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-03878-x
Croen, L. A., Zerbo, O., Qian, Y., Massolo, M. L., Rich, S., Sidney, S., & Kripke, C. (2015). The health status of adults on the autism spectrum. Autism, 19(7), 814–823. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361315577517
Hull, L., Petrides, K. V., Allison, C., Smith, P., Baron-Cohen, S., Lai, M.-C., & Mandy, W. (2017). “Putting on my best normal”: Social camouflaging in adults with autism spectrum conditions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(8), 2519–2534. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3166-5
Lai, M.-C., Lombardo, M. V., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2015). Sex/gender differences and autism: Setting the scene for future research. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 54(1), 11–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2014.10.003
Rødgaard, E.-M., Jensen, K., Vergnes, J.-N., Soulières, I., & Mottron, L. (2019). Temporal changes in effect sizes of studies comparing individuals with and without autism: A meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry, 76(11), 1124–1132. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.1956
Weiss, J. A., & Fardella, M. A. (2018). Victimization and perpetration experiences of adults with autism. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 203. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00203
Westwood, H., & Tchanturia, K. (2017). Autism spectrum disorder in anorexia nervosa: An updated literature review. Current Psychiatry Reports, 19(7), 41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-017-0791-9
Yau, N., Anderson, S., & Smith, I. C. (2023). How is psychological wellbeing experienced by autistic women? Challenges and protective factors: A meta-synthesis. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 102, Article 102101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2022.102101