A framework for help-intended communication.

Abstract

Discusses 6 response modes for therapeutic communication which are independent of orientation or professional status. The modes are part of a system to be used both in therapy process research and in paraprofessional training. Communication behaviors are divided into the following categories: (a) the question; (b) advisement, including suggestion, demonstration instruction, and command; (c) silence, including length between utterances; (d) interpretation, an explicit explanation not accompanied by a recommendation; (e) reflection, the relatively nonarousing representation of expressed thougths and feelings; and (f) disclosure. An average interrater correlation of 0.80 was obtained across the verbal categories. Potential applications of the framework in job training, competence assessment of nonprofessional mental health workers, comparative psychotherapy, and specification of treatment conditions are discussed. (91 ref)

Verbal Response Modes as Intersubjective Categories

“…On the other hand, the categories defined in this way correspond closely to natural families of utterances that have been used as categories by many previous taxonomists. In particular, surprisingly little adjustment is necessary to reconcile the principle-based definitions of the five modes retained from the Goodman system with their original deSCriptions (Goodman & Dooley, 1976). For example, utterances that presume knowledge of the other's experience (focus on other) and express it (other's experience) from the speaker's viewpoint (speaker's frame of reference), such as "You are being defensive," are classed as Interpretations.…”

“…Most other intersubjective systems used to study psychotherapy have been constructed from empirically-or theoretically-derived ideas about psychotherapy. Consequently, categories may reflect specifically psychotherapeutic purposes (e.g., minimal encourages in Ivey's 1971 system; forcing client to choose and develop topic in Snyder's 1945, system; exploratory operations; focal probes in Strupp's 1957a system), or the distribution of categories may reflect peculiarities of psychotherapeutic interaction (e.g., the absence of an Edification category-one of the commonest modes in everyday conversation-in Goodman & Dooley'S, 1976, framework of help-intended communication). The VRM system does not share these distortions (or, from another viewpoint, these specializations) because the principles of classification assume only that two people (two centers of experience) are interacting, without reference to the setting or purpose of the interaction.…”

“…The progenitor of the present taxonomy (Goodman & Dooley, 1976) included descriptions of 5 of the present 8 modes. Goodman's sixth category, silence (an extralinguistic category), was replaced by Acknowledgment, and two categories were added, Edification and Confirmation.…”

“…For example, a Disclosure reveals thoughts or feelings to the other; an Advisement guides the other's behavior. This taxonomy has evolved from a list of modes (Goodman & Dooley, 1976) identified from naturalistic observation of help-intended interaction by Gerald Goodman (Goodman, 1972). It is in a tradition that traces to Carl Rogers and his students, notably Snyder (1945 and this volume).…”

Construyendo puentes: Diálogo entre un clínico y un investigador

“…Bill: Fue inspirada por un supervisor de mi escuela de graduados, Jerry Goodman, (Goodman & Dooley, 1976), y por el tipo de foco en el pro-ceso de momento-a-momento que es inspirado por el aprendizaje de la terapia centrada en al cliente (vea el primer capítulo de Describing Talk; Stiles, 1992). Las categorías de Jerry me parecieron disecar la naturaleza en sus articulaciones.…”