0000000000273042
AUTHOR
Petra Nyman-salonen
Significant Moments in a Couple Therapy Session: Towards the Integration of Different Modalities of Analysis
This chapter presents a couple therapy session from four different research perspectives: The verbal dialogue was analysed with the Dialogical Investigations of Happenings of Change method, the embodied reactions of each participant were analysed by examining the electrodermal activity of each participant, and nonverbal synchrony was observed between the participants. Stimulated Recall Interviews, conducted individually after the session, were used to gain insights on the participants’ thoughts and feelings concerning particular moments in the session. We wished to determine what could be learned from the embodied reactions of the participants in couple therapy, including whether the data o…
The Relational Mind in Couple Therapy : A Bateson-Inspired View of Human Life as an Embodied Stream
Research on human intersubjectivity has found that humans participate in a dialogue throughout their life, and that this is manifested not only via language, but also nonverbally, with the entire body. Such an understanding of human life has brought into focus some basic systemic ideas concerning the human relational mind. For Gregory Bateson, the mind works as a system, formed from components that are in continuous interaction with each other. In our Relational Mind research project, we followed twelve couple therapy processes involving two therapists per session, looking at the ways in which the four participants attuned to each other with their bodies, including their autonomic nervous s…
Nonverbal synchrony in couple therapy linked to clients’ well-being and the therapeutic alliance
Nonverbal synchrony between individuals has a robust relation to the positive aspects of relationships. In psychotherapy, where talking is the cure, nonverbal synchrony has been related to a positive outcome of therapy and to a stronger therapeutic alliance between therapist and client in dyadic settings. Only a few studies have focused on nonverbal synchrony in multi-actor therapy conversations. Here, we studied the synchrony of head and body movements in couple therapy, with four participants present (spouses and two therapists). We analyzed more than 2000min of couple therapy videos from 11 couple therapy cases using Motion Energy Analysis and a Surrogate Synchrony (SUSY), a procedure us…
Alliance Formations in Couple Therapy: A Multimodal and Multimethod Study
AbstractThe authors sought to study underlying processes of alliance formation, a multimethod and multimodal research procedure was developed and applied to a 6-minute episode from one couple thera...
Challenges and added value of measuring embodied variables in psychotherapy
Research on embodied aspects of clinical encounters is growing, but discussion on the premises of including embodied variables in empirical research is scarce. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that embodied aspects of psychotherapy interaction are vital in developing a therapeutic alliance, and these should be considered to better understand the change process in psychotherapy. However, the field is still debating which methods should be used and which features of the embodied aspects are relevant in the clinical context. The field lacks methodological consistency as well as a theoretical model. In the Relational Mind research project, we have studied the embodied aspects of interaction…
Associations Between Sympathetic Nervous System Synchrony, Movement Synchrony, and Speech in Couple Therapy
Background: Research on interpersonal synchrony has mostly focused on a single modality, and hence little is known about the connections between different types of social attunement. In this study, the relationship between sympathetic nervous system synchrony, movement synchrony, and the amount of speech were studied in couple therapy. Methods: Data comprised 12 couple therapy cases (24 clients and 10 therapists working in pairs as co-therapists). Synchrony in electrodermal activity, head and body movement, and the amount of speech and simultaneous speech during the sessions were analyzed in 12 sessions at the start of couple therapy (all 72 dyads) and eight sessions at the end of therapy (…
Kehollinen vuorovaikutus psykoterapiassa
Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan psykoterapiaa kehollisena kohtaamisena ja kokemuksena. Artikkelissa esitellään tutkimustuloksia psykoterapian aikaisesta sanattomasta vuorovaikutuksesta ja pohditaan kehollisuuden merkitystä psykoterapiassa. Artikkelin pääsanoma on, että sanaton vuorovaikutus on keskeistä psykoterapiassa ja terapeutin tulee tiedostaa oma osallisuutensa sanattoman yhteistyösuhteen muodostumisessa. Terapeutin sanaton viestintä vaikuttaa empatian välittymiseen ja mahdollisesti jopa terapian vaikuttavuuteen. Myös terapeutti vaikuttuu terapian tunnesisällöistä ja tapahtumista sanattomalla tasolla. peerReviewed
Studying Nonverbal Synchrony in Couple Therapy : Observing Implicit Posture and Movement Synchrony
AbstractResearch on nonverbal synchrony (movement coordination) in psychotherapy has recently attracted increased attention. Nonverbal synchrony has been shown to relate to the therapeutic alliance and outcome. However, research on nonverbal synchrony in couple therapy remains scarce. In this study, we examined the therapy process of one couple in detail and created a coding scheme to depict posture and movement synchrony. In this case study, we found that the relationship between nonverbal synchrony and the therapeutic alliance was complex. During the therapy process, the amount of nonverbal synchrony varied, as did the participants’ evaluations of the alliance. In couple therapy nonverbal…
Interpersonal coordination in couple therapy: Investigating posture and movement matching and nonverbal synchrony between participants
Viime aikoina kehonliikkeiden yhteensovittautumista, eli synkroniaa, on tutkittu yhä enemmän psykoterapiassa. Sen on havaittu liittyvän terapian tuloksellisuuteen ja terapeuttiseen allianssiin eli yhteistyösuhteeseen. Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkittiin ensimmäistä kertaa kehon asentojen ja liikkeiden yhteensovittautumista pariterapiassa. Aineistona käytettiin Relationaalinen mieli monitoimijaisten terapiadialogien muutoshetkissä -projektin pariterapiavideoita. Ensimmäisessä osatutkimuksessa tutkittiin osallistujien välistä tahatonta asentojen ja kehonliikkeiden peilautumista. Havaintojen perusteella syntyi uusi luokittelujärjestelmä Observing Nonverbal Synchrony. Osatutkimuksessa havaittiin as…