Computer-assisted soliloquy as an approach to psychotherapy.
Schools of talking therapy generally consider the doctor-patient relationship to be essential to the therapeutic process. Yet studies reveal that the presence of a therapist can sometimes inhibit frank disclosure and that patients will speak alone, in the absence of a therapist, about matters of importance to them. We have programmed a computer interview to facilitate soliloquy and have studied its effectiveness. Encouraged by the computer, subjects talked into a microphone first about anxiety-provoking circumstances and then about relaxation. Both mean heart rate and State anxiety scores fell significantly between the beginning and the end of the interview.
Slack
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Princeton University.
Porter
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D
Balkin
P
P
Kowaloff
H B
HB
Slack
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CW
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012063:Relaxation / Q000523:psychology; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted