Abstract

This paper illustrates an analytical approach combining LIWC, a computer text-analytic application, with cluster analysis techniques to explore ‘language styles’ in psychotherapy across sessions in time. It categorizes session transcripts into distinct clusters or styles based on linguistic (di)similarity and relates them to sessional progression, thus providing entry points for further qualitative exploration. In the first step, transcripts of four illustrative therapist-client dyads were scored under ten LIWC variables including ‘analytic thinking’, ‘clout’, ‘authenticity’, ‘emotional tone’, and pronoun types. In the next step, agglomerative hierarchical clustering uncovered distinct session clusters that are differently distributed in each dyad. The relationships between these clusters and the chronological progression of sessions were then further discussed in context as contrastive exemplars. Applications, limitations and future directions are highlighted.

Highlights

  • Psychotherapy, the ‘talking cure’, is a mental health activity that applies clinical methods and interpersonal stances to modify behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and/or other attributes (Norcross, 1990)

  • Though grounded in psychological principles, its verbal and interactive nature has fostered a tradition of linguistic analysis (Labov & Fanshel, 1977; Pittenger, Hockett & Danehy, 1960)

  • We can claim that each cluster represents a distinct language style, with all sessions in a cluster reflecting that style

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Summary

Introduction

Psychotherapy, the ‘talking cure’, is a mental health activity that applies clinical methods and interpersonal stances to modify behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and/or other attributes (Norcross, 1990). While some found increased use associated with positive outcomes (Demiray & Gençöz, 2018; Van Staden & Fulford, 2004), others found it predictive of depressive symptoms (Zimmerman, Brockmeyer, Hunn et al, 2016). Another well-known approach is Conversation Analysis, which moves beyond individual words to examine how social actions unfold sequentially as participants take turns to converse. This has been applied to various aspects of therapy talk including how people (mis)interpret each other, ask questions, build relationships, exhibit empathy, and so on (Ferrara, 1994; Peräkylä, Antaki, Vehviläine et al, 2011).

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