{"id":15616,"date":"2023-01-30T15:44:53","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T15:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.rapidmind.in\/navgati\/?p=15616"},"modified":"2025-04-25T14:09:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T14:09:55","slug":"the-stroke-exchange-trade-like-a-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.rapidmind.in\/navgati\/the-stroke-exchange-trade-like-a-pro\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stroke Exchange – Trade Like a Pro!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The theory of Transactional Analysis<\/a> places great importance on the quality of recognition among people as fundamental to healthy psychological development. I was drawn to the idea of strokes in TA 101<\/a> itself \u2013 my first introduction to Transactional Analysis<\/a>. It seemed like a simple and profound way to enhance OKness and increase motivation in self and others. In this blog, I share my understanding of strokes and how I have used the this theory to make a difference to myself. <\/p>\n

What strokes are<\/h3>\n

Eric Berne, the creator of Transactional Analysis defined a \u201cstroke\u201d as a \u201cunit of recognition\u201d.
\nNeil Bright in his book, Rethinking Everything, says: \u201cA stroke is a verbal, nonverbal, or physical stimulus sent out and received by another person. It is a unit of attention, recognition, or stimulation as when someone says your name, laughs at your jokes, smiles at you, embraces you, cooks your favorite meal, criticizes your intelligence, applauds your efforts, frowns at you, responds to you verbally, or listens attentively to what you have to say. <\/p>\n

Simply put, a stroke is any contact or connection acknowledging another\u2019s presence. And such stimulation is more than something people enjoy or simply a form of attention at least marginally confirming one\u2019s worth. That is, in nourishing and revitalizing the Child ego state, strokes are essential for the healthy emotional life of children and adults and are even more crucial for the psychological and physical well-being of newborns. So clear is this biological connection that the term \u201cstroke,\u201d to caress, was coined because of this inherent need for tactile contact during the first months of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Types of Strokes<\/h3>\n

Strokes can be categorized mainly into conditional or non-conditional, and verbal or non-verbal. A conditional stroke is the one that is offered for doing something whereas an unconditional stroke is the one that is offered for being. An example of conditional verbal stroke is, \u201cYou have drawn this painting beautifully\u201d. Whereas an unconditional verbal stroke is, \u201cYou are talented\u201d. <\/p>\n

Verbal strokes are expressed through words whereas the non-verbal strokes are expressed through facial expressions, touch or actions. For example, organising a birthday party for a friend is a non-verbal stroke. <\/p>\n

Strokes can be either positive (e.g. \u201cYou are handsome\u201d) or negative (e.g. \u201cYour hairstyle doesn\u2019t look good\u201d. Positive strokes invite an \u201cI am OK\u201d feeling. Negative strokes invite an \u201cI am not OK\u201d feeling. However, it is the receiver who decides whether a stroke is experienced as positive or negative. <\/p>\n

A person must receive a certain amount of strokes to be able to survive, known as the \u201csurvival quotient\u201d. \u201cStrokes are necessary for human survival, and when people can\u2019t obtain positive strokes, they will settle for negative strokes because they too, even though they feel bad, are life supportive. Capers and Holland point out that when peoples\u2019 stroke sources fall below a certain point which he calls the Survival Quotient, they become more and more willing to accept negative strokes because they need strokes, any strokes, for survival. Taking negative strokes is like drinking polluted water; extreme need will cause us to overlook the harmful qualities of what we re- quire to survive. Thus, a negative stroke is better than no strokes.\u201d (Steiner, 1974)<\/p>\n

The Stroke Economy<\/h3>\n

Our culture introduces some limiting rules about strokes to us as children. The adults in our life, in order to retain control over us, send us a message that only when we act that particular way, we will get the strokes we want and not otherwise. We carry forward these unconsciously learnt rules into our adult life. We unconsciously continue to apply the same limiting rules when it comes to giving or receiving strokes. <\/p>\n

There are following five limiting rules: <\/p>\n