How communication can go so wrong!
Father: “Why the hell did you do that?”
Teenager: “It's got nothing to do with you.”
Mother: “What on earth possessed you?”
Teenager: “I don't have to listen to you,” as he/she turns to walk away.
Father: “Where the hell do you think you're going?”
I'm sure most people have heard conversations like this, perhaps even been participants. Those dead-end interchanges which leave both parties feeling exhausted and a bit depressed.
And such interchanges usually end badly. For both parties.
How do they happen and why do they leave us so frustrated and unfulfilled? Psychiatrist Eric Berne studied in depth what he called “transactional units” to try to explain such communication with the objective of helping people communicate more effectively.
His findings have been used in communication training programmes to improve the communication skills of people in business, in the caring professions and in parenting.