THE EFFECT OF TOMMS THERAPEUTIC QUESTIONING STYLES ON THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE - A CLINICAL ANALOG STUDY

Tomm (1988) suggests that circular and reflexive questions tend to eli cit feelings of freedom/acceptance whereas lineal and strategic questi ons usually trigger feelings of judgment/constraint. Employing an anal og methodology, each of Tomm's four questioning styles was portrayed i n the form of a 5-minute videotaped intake scenario. Forty family tria ds with a mother, father, and adolescent son were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions with ten, families each. Each con dition involved viewing one of four questioning style scenarios. All p articipants (N = 120 individuals -40 mothers, 40 fathers, and 40 adole scent sons) completed the Family Therapy Alliance Scale (FTAS; Pinsof & Catherall, 1986) and a validity-check instrument. The results indica ted that circular and reflective questioning styles elicited significa ntly higher (p <.001) alliance scores on the FTAS than did either line al or strategic questions. Implications for the use of different types of questions in family therapy are discussed.