Skip to main content

Significant Moments in a Couple Therapy Session: Towards the Integration of Different Modalities of Analysis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Systemic Research in Individual, Couple, and Family Therapy and Counseling

Abstract

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 obtained via the different research methods were telling the same or different story about the same moment within the couple therapy session.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Exhaustive explanation of the DIHC results is beyond the scope of this chapter.

  2. 2.

    This chapter is necessarily limited in scope; hence, not all the results obtained via this method are presented here.

  3. 3.

    The length of the SRI clips differed from the length of the TEs. In some instances the SRI clips contained segments from one TE or covered more than one TE.

References

  • Angus, L., Levitt, H., & Hardtke, K. (1999). The narrative processes coding system: Research applications and implications for psychotherapy practice. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 1255–1270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angus, L., Lewin, J., Boritz, T., Bryntwick, E., Carpenter, N., Watson-Gaze, J., & Greenberg, L. (2012). Narrative processes coding system: A dialectical constructivist approach to assessing client change processes in emotion-focused therapy of depression. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 15(2), 54–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bavelas, J. B., Coates, L., & Johnson, T. (2000). Listeners as co-narrators. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6), 941–952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benedek, M., & Kaernbach, C. (2010). A continuous measure of phasic electrodermal activity. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 190(1), 80–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boucsein, W. (2012). Electrodermal activity. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999). The chameleon effect: The perception-behavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(6), 893–910.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cromby, J. (2012). Feeling the way: Qualitative research and the affective turn. Qualitative Research in Psychology, Special Issue on Qualitative Clinical Research, 9(1), 88–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M., & Hadiks, D. (1994). Nonverbal aspects of therapist attunement. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 50(3), 393–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Piccolo, L., & Finset, A. (2017). Patients’ autonomic activation during clinical interaction: A review of empirical studies. Patient Education and Counseling, 101(2), 195–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finset, A., Stensrud, T. L., Holt, E., Verheul, W., & Bensing, J. (2011). Electrodermal activity in response to empathic statements in clinical interviews with fibromyalgia patients. Patient Education and Counseling, 82(3), 355–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, N., Krathwohl, D. R., & Miller, R. (1963). Stimulated recall in therapy using video tape: A case study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 10(3), 237–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kreibig, S. D. (2010). Autonomic nervous system activity in emotion: A review. Biological Psychology, 84(3), 394–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laitila, A., Aaltonen, J., Wahlström, J., & Angus, L. (2005). Narrative process modes as a bridging concept for the theory, research, and clinical practice of systemic therapy. Journal of Family Therapy, 27(3), 202–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laitila, A., Vall, B., Penttonen, M., Karvonen, A., Kykyri, V.-L., Kaartinen, J., … Seikkula, J. (2019). The added value of studying embodied responses in couple therapy research: A case study. Family Process, 58, 685–697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lakens, D., & Stel, M. (2011). If they move in sync, they must feel in sync: Movement synchrony leads to attributions of rapport and entitativity. Social Cognition, 29(1), 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muntigl, P., Knight, N., & Watkins, A. (2012). Working to keep aligned in psychotherapy. Using nods as a dialogic resource to display affiliation. Language and Dialogue, 2(1), 9–27. 

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyman-Salonen, P., Tourunen, A., Kykyri,V.-L., Penttonen, M., Kaartinen, J., & Seikkula, J. (submitted). Observing nonverbal synchrony in couple therapy— studying implicit posture and movement synchrony in psychotherapy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, D. H., & Claiborn, C. D. (1990). Interpretation and arousal in the counseling process. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 37(2), 131–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olson, M. E., Laitila, A., Rober, P., & Seikkula, J. (2012). The shift from monologue to dialogue in a couple therapy session: Dialogical investigation of change from the therapists’ point of view. Family Process, 51(3), 420–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Päivinen, H., Holma, J., Karvonen, A., Kykyri, V.-L., Tsatsishvili, V., Kaartinen, J., … Seikkula, J. (2016). Affective arousal during blaming in couple therapy: Combining analyses of verbal discourse and physiological responses in two case studies. Contemporary Family Therapy, 38(4), 373–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raingruber, B. J. (2001). Settling into and moving in a climate of care: Styles and patterns of interaction between nurse psychotherapists and clients. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 37(1), 15–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Räsänen, E., Holma, J., & Seikkula, J. (2012). Dialogical views on partner abuser treatment: Balancing confrontation and support. Journal of Family Violence, 27(4), 357–368. 

    Google Scholar 

  • Rober, P., Elliott, R., Buysse, A., Loots, G., & De Corte, K. (2008). What’s on the therapist’s mind? A grounded theory analysis of family therapist reflections during individual therapy sessions. Psychotherapy Research, 18(1), 48–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seikkula, J., Karvonen, A., Kykyri, V.-L., Kaartinen, J., & Penttonen, M. (2015). The embodied attunement of therapists and a couple within dialogical psychotherapy: An introduction to the Relational Mind research project. Family Process, 54(4), 703–715.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seikkula, J., Laitila, A., & Rober, P. (2012). Making sense of multi-actor dialogues in family therapy and network meetings. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38(4), 667–687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sep, M. S. C., van Osch, M., van Vliet, L. M., Smets, E. M. A., & Bensing, J. M. (2014). The power of clinicians’ affective communication: How reassurance about non-abandonment can reduce patients’ physiological arousal and increase information recall in bad news consultations. An experimental study using analogue patients. Patient Education and Counseling, 95, 45–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharpley, C. F., Halat, J., Rabinowicz, T., Weiland, B., & Stafford, J. (2001). Standard posture, postural mirroring and client-perceived rapport. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 14(4), 267–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stel, M., & van den Bos, K. (2010). Mimicry as a tool for understanding the emotions of others. In A. J. Spink, F. Grieco, O. E. Krips, L. W. S. Loijens, L. P. J. J. Noldus, & P. H. Zimmerman (Eds.), Proceedings of measuring behavior: 7th international conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research 2010 (pp. 114–117). Wageningen, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stivers, T. (2008). Stance, alignment, and affiliation during storytelling: When nodding is a token of affiliation. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 41(1), 31–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Troisi, A. (2002). Displacement activities as a behavioral measure of stress in nonhuman primates and human subjects. Stress, 5(1), 47–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trout, D. L., & Rosenfeld, H. M. (1980). The effect of postural lean and body congruence on the judgment of psychotherapeutic rapport. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 4(3), 176–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vall, B., Seikkula, J., Laitila, A., Holma, J., & Botella, L. (2014). Increasing Responsibility, Safety, and Trust Through a Dialogical Approach: A Case Study in Couple Therapy for Psychological Abusive Behavior. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 25(4), 275–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vall, B., Laitila, A., Borcsa, M., Kykyri, V.-L., Karvonen, A., Kaartinen, J., … Seikkula, J. (2018). Stimulated recall interviews: How can the research interview contribute to new therapeutic practices? Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica, XXVII(2), 274–293.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petra Nyman-Salonen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Nyman-Salonen, P. et al. (2020). Significant Moments in a Couple Therapy Session: Towards the Integration of Different Modalities of Analysis. In: Ochs, M., Borcsa, M., Schweitzer, J. (eds) Systemic Research in Individual, Couple, and Family Therapy and Counseling. European Family Therapy Association Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36560-8_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics