Egograms

Domain III · Humanistic, existential & experiential · John M. Dusay · 1972 · San Francisco

What it is

The egogram is not a stand-alone therapy. It is an assessment-and-change tool inside transactional analysis (TA): a bar graph with five columns, one per functional ego state (Critical or Controlling Parent, CP; Nurturing Parent, NP; Adult, A; Free Child, FC; Adapted Child, AC). The height of each…

Format

• Dusay set out no fixed phases or session count. The egogram is used inside an ordinary TA contract-based treatment, individual or (as in Dusay's practice) group. The sequence below is the one his 1972 cases follow; the phase names and criteria are my structuring.
• Phase A: Contract and first egogram (usually 1–2 sessions).

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Format. Paper or whiteboard; in groups, several people draw egograms of the same person and compare. Variant: standardised questionnaires (TEG: 60 items, three response options, percentile norms from Japanese adults; used widely in Japanese psychosomatic medicine). TEG is a licensed instrument; do not reproduce its items.
• Version followed: John M. Dusay's intuitive (hand-drawn) egogram as set out in "Egograms and the 'Constancy Hypothesis'" (Transactional Analysis Journal, 1972, 2(3), 37–42; read in an authorised-looking Serbian translation hosted by a TA training site), with the drawing steps as taught in current UK TA training. Dusay's 1977 book Egograms: How I See You and You See Me (Harper & Row) is not drawn on; anything…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• A newly cooperative but joyless client (AC up, FC down) is a recognised pattern.
• Drawing game arrows on the egogram. Dusay found the combined diagrams confusing and dropped them.
• Grief or shame when a valued state has shrunk. Name the shift as energy moving, not something lost for good.
• Treating any column as purely good or bad. Each can be used well or badly. A high CP can mean healthy limits or harshness.
• Feedback turning into a group game of criticism. Insist each drawing is framed as "how I see you", backed by an observed example.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.