Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University.
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion Univesity.
J Couns Psychol. 2018 Jan;65(1):51-64. doi: 10.1037/cou0000250.
The present study aimed to (a) explore 2 indices of emotional congruence-temporal similarity and directional discrepancy-between clients' and therapists' ratings of their emotions as they cofluctuate session-by-session; and (b) examine whether client/therapist emotional congruence predicts clients' symptom relief and improved functioning. The sample comprised 109 clients treated by 62 therapists in a university setting. Clients and therapists self-reported their negative (NE) and positive emotions (PE) after each session. Symptom severity and functioning level were assessed at the beginning of each session using the clients' self-reports. To assess emotional congruence, an adaptation of West and Kenny's (2011) Truth and Bias model was applied. To examine the consequences of emotional congruence, polynomial regression, and response surface analyses were conducted (Edwards & Parry, 1993). Clients and therapists were temporally similar in both PE and NE. Therapists experienced less intense PE on average, but did not experience more or less intense NE than their clients. Those therapists who experienced more intense NE than their clients were more temporally similar in their emotions to their clients. Therapist/client incongruence in both PE and NE predicted poorer next-session symptomatology; incongruence in PE was also associated with lower client next-session functioning. Session-level symptoms were better when therapists experienced more intense emotions (both PE and NE) than their clients. The findings highlight the importance of recognizing the dynamic nature of emotions in client-therapist interactions and the contribution of session-by-session emotional dynamics to outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record
(a) 探索客户和治疗师在会话过程中共同波动时情绪一致的 2 个指标——时间相似性和方向差异；(b) 检验客户/治疗师情绪一致性是否预测客户的症状缓解和功能改善。该样本包括 109 名在大学环境中接受 62 名治疗师治疗的客户。客户和治疗师在每次会话后自我报告他们的负面情绪 (NE) 和积极情绪 (PE)。在每次会话开始时，客户使用自我报告评估症状严重程度和功能水平。为了评估情绪一致性，采用了 West 和 Kenny（2011）的 Truth and Bias 模型的改编版。为了检验情绪一致性的后果，进行了多项式回归和响应面分析（Edwards 和 Parry，1993）。客户和治疗师在 PE 和 NE 方面具有时间相似性。治疗师平均体验到较弱的 PE，但体验到的 NE 并不比他们的客户更强烈或更不强烈。那些体验到比客户更强烈的 NE 的治疗师在情绪上与客户更相似。PE 和 NE 方面的治疗师/客户不一致性都预示着下一次会话的症状更差；PE 的不一致性也与客户下一次会话的功能较低有关。当治疗师体验到比客户更强烈的情绪（PE 和 NE）时，会话级别的症状更好。这些发现强调了认识到客户-治疗师互动中情绪的动态性质以及会话级情绪动态对结果的贡献的重要性。
