Abstract
The role of the counselor’s experience in building an alliance with the clients remains controversial. Recently, the expanding nascent studies on interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) on human subjects have hinted at the possible neural substrates underlying the relationship qualities between the counselor-client dyads. Our study assessed the clients’ self-report working alliance (WA) as well as simultaneously measured IBS by fNIRS in 14 experienced versus 16 novice counselor-client dyads during the first integrative-orientation psychological counseling session. We observed that synchronous brain activity patterns were elicited from the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) across counselor-client dyads. Furthermore, such IBS, together with alliance quality, was especially evident when counselors had more psychotherapy experience. Time-lagged counselor-client brain synchronization might co-vary with the alliance (goal component) when the client’s brain activity preceded that of the counselor. These findings favor the notion that the IBS between counselor-client associated with the WA is an experience-dependent phenomenon, suggesting that a potential adaptive mechanism is embedded in psychological counseling.
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