PositiveStroke

In psychology - and specifically in transactional analysis (TA), developed by Eric Berne - a stroke is a unit of interpersonal recognition: a verbal or non-verbal signal that conveys you have noticed and acknowledged another person. In 1971 Claude Steiner took the idea further with the stroke economy, examining how we give, accept, ask for or withhold strokes. A positive stroke is the positive form of this: a kind word, a gesture, a compliment or any other piece of positive feedback. In everyday life it is easy to take for granted, or simply forget, the attention, the kind gestures, the compliments and the recognition we receive during the day. One simple, tangible way of holding on to positive strokes is to write each kind word, gesture, compliment or acknowledgement on a slip of paper and collect them in a jar. Later you can come back to them and relive the positive feedback you were…