As a therapist, I find that a large percentage of people who come into the consulting office are doing so to get help with relationship entanglements. Clients may complain of problems in getting along with a spouse, with children, with their family of origin such as siblings or parents, or with people at work. Even people whose primary complaint is stress, anxiety, or depression will often report significant issues of conflict with others, either as a result of their symptoms or, more likely, as the original cause of them. In other words, they are often stressed, anxious, or depressed about something, and that something is likely to be a conflictual relationship somewhere in their life.
The Drama Triangle
The Drama Triangle
Transactional Analysis provides us with an elegant framework for understanding clients’ relationship entanglements. This framework is known as the Drama Triangle. This is a term for an interpersonal “vortex” in which one person takes on the role and mindset of a Victim, Persecutor or a Rescuer. Other people then get pulled into complementary roles in the Triangle. The exact role a person takes on may vary from one episode to another, and even from one moment to another. As one person shifts roles, so do, unwittingly, the people around them, leading to a dance around the Triangle that nobody seems to be able to escape.
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