Abstract

This study was an attempt to establish neurophysiological correlates, particularly brain activity, during high therapeutic alliance (TA) between client and therapist. The aim was to assess electroencephalography (EEG) activity in clients with symptomatic anxiety during high TA using skin conductance resonance measurements from both client and therapist. Thirty clients, aged 43.8 +/- 11.5 years (males: n=15 females: n=15), underwent six, weekly, 1-hour sessions (180 hours of repeated measures). The EEG activity was measured from the prefrontal, temporal, parietal and occipital sites during the sessions. State and trait anxiety, Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) and heart rate measures were obtained before and after each session. Prefrontal, parietal and occipital sites were associated with TA. Anxiety and heart rate were found to decrease after therapy, and for both the client and the therapist, the WAI score increased significantly in later sessions. The results are discussed from the perspective of further understanding the neurophysiological associations to TA.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Stratford T, Lal S, Meara A

Institution

University of Technology, Department of Medical and Molecular Biosciences, Sydney, Australia. trishas@powerup.com.au

Source

American journal of psychotherapy 66:1 2012 pg 1-21

MeSH

Adult
Anxiety Disorders
Arousal
Brain Mapping
Cerebral Cortex
Electroencephalography
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Galvanic Skin Response
Heart Rate
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Personality Inventory
Physician-Patient Relations
Psychotherapy
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
Sympathetic Nervous System

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22523792