ABSTRACT
It is important to express succinctly while naming the important elements, and to use everyday language throughout. The words and phrases that come to the therapist's mind might well be expressed in professional jargon such as 'low self-esteem', 'dysfunctional coping'. Such phrases should be translated into concrete, as far as possible, behavioural, terms. The next task is to draw out the maintaining cycles. Each one needs to be a thorough functional analysis, identifying the impulse behind the behaviour, the reinforcer (these are coping strategies that work in the short term) and tracking the way in which, long-term, the strategy reinforces the unbearable emotion and so keeps the person stuck. This needs to be done collaboratively, using Socratic questioning. It is essential that drawing the diagram results in a message of hope for positive change.
