What does the client see? a review of psychotherapists' nonverbal behavior

Author

Iris Taber, St. Edwards University

Periodical Title

Modern Psychological Studies

Volume

5

Number

1

Page Numbers

pages 33-38

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

1997

Abstract

Nonverbal communication between a psychotherapist and a mental health consumer is an extremely powerful tool in the course of psychotherapy. Clients generally assume therapists attend to their nonverbals but therapists may be unaware of the extent to which their nonverbals influence therapy. This paper examines the influence of the therapist's nonverbals on the therapeutic relationship. In research conducted by Davis & Hadiks (1994) using the Nonverbal Interaction and States Analysis (NISA), client and therapist movements were compared and rated on the same scale. These data indicated that body position patterns facilitated the development of rapport and self-disclosure in a therapy setting. Additional studies of how the areas of proxemics, attractiveness, haptics, vocalics and kinesics affect the client's perceptions of the therapist are reviewed. Suggestions are made for improving therapeutic rapport through the use of nonverbal communication techniques. Future research aimed at increasing therapist trainees ' awareness of the dynamics of their nonverbals is recommended.

Subject

Psychology

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

6 leaves

Language

English

Call Number

BF1 .M63 v. 5 no. 1 1997

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Recommended Citation

Taber, Iris (1997) "What does the client see? a review of psychotherapists' nonverbal behavior," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 5: No. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol5/iss1/7