The sound of change: A study of the psychotherapeutic process embodied in vocal expression. Laura Rice's ideas revisited

Abstract

The results made it possible to show that the 15 psychotherapeutic change process are embodied in the modes of vocal expression of their participants, and that the way in which these different modes are coordinated within the interaction makes it possible to observe regulatory micro-sequences that participate in the therapeutic change process.

The Action of Verbal and Non-verbal Communication in the Therapeutic Alliance Construction: A Mixed Methods Approach to Assess the Initial Interactions With Depressed Patients

“…Moreover, during this phase, patients tended to explore more than the therapist. Tomicic et al (2015b) emphasized that, regardless of verbal content, both an elaborative and emotional vocal quality were associated with coordination processes between participants. Furthermore, the therapist highlighted a more elaborative voice than the patient, while the latter expressed a greater emotionality than the former in terms of vocal emission.…”

“…Precisely, voice and interruptions, together with verbal communication, assume a fundamental role in co-constructing meanings as, from one hand, they provide information on the psychological messages and emotional states underlying the participants' behaviors and, on the other hand, they enrich the speech through their interaction even though they are separate components (Jones and LeBaron, 2002). Therefore, verbal communication (through the structural form and communicative intents of the content), voice (through prosodic modulations), and cooperative/competitive interruptions (through behaviors of involvement or dominance) interact by spreading information and determining the mutual regulation between participants in the form of conversational sequences, observable and recordable during communicative exchanges (Li, 2001;Valdés et al, 2010;Tomicic et al, 2015b;Westland, 2015).…”

Soft Prosody and Embodied Attunement in Therapeutic Interaction: A Multimethod Case Study of a Moment of Change

“…On the basis of these observations, they suggested that synchrony in physiological arousal could be mediated in part via vocal cues. Drawing on the work of Rice and Kerr (1986), Tomicic, Martinez, and Krause (2015) used a Vocal Quality Pattern (VQP) coding system to study the process of change in psychodynamic psychotherapy; they found that the process was embodied in the expressive vocal styles of the participants. Weiste and Peräkylä (2014) observed that therapists' formulations which led up to the validation of clients' emotions were characterized by prosodic continuity, meaning that they were produced with a similar prosody to that of the client's preceding turn.…”

The Relevance of the Voice for the Psychotherapeutic Process: A Research in Two Voices

“…Algunos estudios han sugerido la importancia de los efectos de la cualidad vocal de terapeutas y pacientes y su relación con los procesos de cambio (Brown y Sorter, 2008;Rice y wagstaff, 1967;Tomicic, et al, 2010;Tomicic y Martínez, 2011;Tomicic, et al, 2014). Más particularmente, ha llegado a establecerse una relación secuencial entre la cualidad vocal de terapeutas y pacientes que posibilitaría una transición desde un nivel bajo hacia uno intermedio de experienciación en estos últimos (Greenberg, 1980;Rice y wagstaff, 1967;Rice y Kerr, 1986; wiseman y Rice, 1989) o, incluso, la identificación del paciente con aspectos del cuerpo y la voz de su terapeuta, tal como si fuese un modelo para su propio crecimiento psicológico (Bady, 1985).…”

“…Como complemento, se han propuesto ciertas vocalizaciones orientadas hacia procesos curativos en psicoterapia, principalmente al considerar la voz como reflejo del estado emocional de los pacientes, posibilitando una escucha empática por parte de sus terapeutas (Bady, 1985). Estudios más recientes sobre cualidades vocales y coordinación de ritmos vocales entre psicoterapeutas y pacientes han encontrado ciertos estilos de expresión vocal en procesos de regulación mutua relacionados con el cambio Tomicic, 2011;Tomicic y Martínez, 2011;Tomicic et al, 2009aTomicic et al, , 2009bTomicic et al, , 2010Tomicic et al, , 2014. Además se ha evaluado el impacto de las cualidades vocales sobre el nivel de ajuste y empatía entre pacientes y terapeutas y, su implicancia para la conformación de un espacio intersubjetivo facilitador del cambio, como también la asociación entre altos niveles de sincronía vocal y un empeoramiento de la calidad en la relación terapéutica (Beebe, Knoblauch, Rustin y Sorter, 2005;holtz, 2004;Knoblauch, 2000;Reich, et al, 2014).…”