Books / Humanistic, existential & experiential
What Do You Say After You Say Hello? The Psychology of Human Destiny
Eric Berne’s What Do You Say After You Say Hello? (1972) presents his transactional-analysis account of life scripts and human relationships.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Eric Berne
Edition: First published by Grove Press in 1972; Corgi edition published in 1975
Publisher: Grove Press
Edition year: 1972
Language and origin: English (United States)
Form and genre: Clinical & Theoretical Monograph
Level: Intermediate
Historical era: 1960–1979 · Humanistic, Cognitive & Systemic Turn
Covers: Berne’s concept of life scripts; Relationships and transactional analysis; The author’s interpretation of early experience
APA 7th reference: Berne, E. (1972). What do you say after you say hello? The psychology of human destiny. Grove Press.
What it is
Berne’s book appeared in 1972. It presents his ideas about transactional analysis and life scripts. The Corgi edition associated with ISBN 9780552098069 was published in 1975, not as the 1972 Grove Press edition.
What it covers
Berne used the term life script for a proposed pattern involving early experience and later behaviour. The account is a clinical theory, not evidence that childhood decisions determine a person’s future.
Historical context
The book discusses how people may understand and change patterns in their lives. Its explanations and proposed interventions should be read in the context of the author’s transactional-analysis model.
Reading this record
Publisher descriptions and catalogue records were consulted; the full book was not reviewed for this entry. The book’s theories do not establish a universal developmental pathway or a guaranteed treatment outcome.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Changing Lives Through Redecision Therapy (Robert L. Goulding and Mary McClure Goulding, 1979)
Reference: Goulding, R. L., & Goulding, M. M. (1979). Changing lives through redecision therapy. Brunner/Mazel.
A later book presents the Gouldings’ approach to redecision therapy. The full text was not reviewed for this entry.
Sources and inspection notes
Google Books. What do you say after you say hello? Grove Press catalogue record.
Supports: Catalogue identifies Berne, the title and Grove Press publication in 1972.
Open British National Bibliography. What do you say after you say hello? Corgi edition.
Supports: Catalogue identifies the 1975 Corgi edition with ISBN 055209806X and records the earlier 1972 Grove Press publication.
Google Books. What do you say after you say hello? Corgi edition.
Supports: Catalogue lists the Corgi edition, 1975 and ISBN 9780552098069; its description presents the author’s theory rather than an independent efficacy assessment.
Goulding, R. L., & Goulding, M. M. (1979). Changing lives through redecision therapy. Brunner/Mazel.
Supports: Bibliographic reference to a later clinical work; the full text was not reviewed.