Diagram a complementary or crossed transaction

Draw the ego states behind each line of an exchange to see why it flowed or why it broke down.

Por qué funciona

Berne called the unit of conversation a transaction: a stimulus from one person's ego state and a response from the other's. When the response comes from the ego state that was addressed and goes back to the one that sent it, the transaction is complementary, and by his first rule of communication it can go on indefinitely. When the response comes from a different ego state, the transaction is crossed, and communication breaks off until someone shifts. Drawing the lines between two sets of P-A-C circles turns a confusing argument into something you can see.

Cómo hacerlo

1. Draw two stacks of three circles side by side, labelled P, A and C, one stack for you and one for the other person.
2. Take the first line of a recent exchange. Draw an arrow from the ego state it came from to the ego state it was aimed at.
3. Draw the reply the same way. If the reply arrow runs straight back along the same path, it is complementary; if it comes from or goes to a different circle, it is crossed.
4. Mark the exact line where the conversation changed direction. That is almost always the crossed transaction.

Evidencia

Transactions, the rules of communication and the P-A-C diagram are set out in Berne's 1961 book and in Games People Play, and are taught in Stewart and Joines's textbook. This is the core analytic method of TA, used in therapy, training and organisations, not a separately tested intervention. (clinical)

There is no controlled study of diagramming transactions on its own; its value rests on clinical and training use. Assigning ego states to someone else's words is a guess about them, best held lightly.

Fuentes

• Berne, E. (1961). Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy: A Systematic Individual and Social Psychiatry. Grove Press.
• Berne, E. (1964). Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships. Grove Press.
• Stewart, I., & Joines, V. (1987). TA Today: A New Introduction to Transactional Analysis. Lifespace Publishing.

Error común

Using the diagram to prove who started it. A crossed transaction is not a fault; it is information about where the exchange changed, and either person can be the one who crossed it.