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Cited by 210Psychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsAction Observation and SynchronizationPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research

Nonverbal synchrony of head-and body-movement in psychotherapy: different signals have different associations with outcome.

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Ramseyer, Fabian, Tschacher, Wolfgang·2014·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00979PMC PMC4155778
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The coordination of patient's and therapist's bodily movement - nonverbal synchrony - has been empirically shown to be associated with psychotherapy outcome. This finding was based on dynamic movement patterns of the whole body. The present paper is a new analysis of an existing dataset (Ramseyer and Tschacher, 2011), which extends previous findings by differentiating movements pertaining to head and upper-body regions. METHOD: In a sample of 70 patients (37 female, 33 male) treated at an outpatient psychotherapy clinic, we quantified nonverbal synchrony with an automated objective video-analysis algorithm (motion energy analysis). Head- and body-synchrony was quantified during the initial 15 min of video-recorded therapy sessions. Micro-outcome was assessed with self-report post-session questionnaires provided by patients and their therapists. Macro-outcome was measured with questionnaires that quantified attainment of treatment goals and changes in experiencing and behavior at the end of therapy. RESULTS: The differentiation of head- and body-synchrony showed that these two facets of motor coordination were differentially associated with outcome. Head-synchrony predicted global outcome of therapy, while body-synchrony did not, and body-synchrony predicted session outcome, while head-synchrony did not. CONCLUSION: The results pose an important amendment to previous findings, which showed that nonverbal synchrony embodied both outcome and interpersonal variables of psychotherapy dyads. The separation of head- and body-synchrony suggested that distinct mechanisms may operate in these two regions: Head-synchrony embodied phenomena with a long temporal extension (overall therapy success), while body-synchrony embodied phenomena of a more immediate nature (session-level success). More explorations with fine-grained analyses of synchronized phenomena in nonverbal behavior may shed additional light on the embodiment of psychotherapy process.

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Authors
Ramseyer, F., & Tschacher, W.
Affiliations
University Hospital of Bern (CH)
Corresponding author
Ramseyer, Fabian
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2014-09-05
Volume
5
Pages
979-979
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00979
PMC
PMC4155778
OpenAlex
W2169765795
Cited by
210
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 1
FWCI
7.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Bern Open Repository and Information System (University of Bern) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Open Access CRIS of the University of Bern
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Keywords
nonverbal synchrony, head movement, body movement, psychotherapy outcome, motion energy analysis, video analysis, embodiment, interpersonal processes, patient-therapist interaction

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