INTERACTIONAL STRUCTURES OF THERAPIST AND CLIENT PARTICIPATION IN ADULT PSYCHOTHERAPY - P TECHNIQUE AND CHRONOGRAPHY

In previous studies, the utterances of 6 clients and their therapists in early, middle, and late sessions were rated on 34 and 39 speech cat egories, respectively. P-technique analyses revealed 4 client and 4 th erapist factors. For the present study, therapist and client utterance s were assigned factor scores. A 17 x 17 correlation matrix was constr ucted, consisting of correlations across 4 lagged utterances (therapis t-client-therapist-client), with each utterance represented by 4 facto r scores and a score for the third from which the utterance was sample d. Principal-components analysis of this matrix revealed 4 therapist-c lient interaction factors: Mutual Therapeutic Engagement, Therapeutic Negotiation, Undirected Client Reminiscence, and Sustained Therapist W ork. Unsuccessful cases deviated most from successful cases on at leas t 1 factor. Comparisons of interaction chronographs of episodes drawn from a successful and unsuccessful case revealed meaningful difference s. Discussion highlights the power of P technique to reveal structures of psychotherapeutic discourse.