The Four Racket Quadrants

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the article by Edward Zerin The Four Racket Quadrants (Zerin, 1980). Zerin assembled a strike of 15 popular concepts of Transactional Analysis, and a delicious pie consisting of four pieces of racket was born in his therapeutic kitchen. According to the author of this article, Transactional Analysis tools are akin to a matryoshka doll. The biggest one is the OK Corral, then the drivers become visible, and the adaptations emerge; then comes a smaller matryoshka the script matrix, and after it goes an even smaller one the racket system. Edward Zerin, referring to each of the 15 concepts of Transactional Analysis, created his own method of client diagnostics based on a minimal set. His diagnosis scheme through the four racket quadrants is a powerful diagnostic tool that allows us to take a good look at a client's life script. Zerin gives us ready-made maps and an anatomical reference book, which the author of this article mentions. These methods can become, in the author's opinion, a good help for the practice of a psychologist using TA.