title: Computer-assisted soliloquy as an approach to psychotherapy.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Princeton University.
authors.forename: W V
authors.initials: WV
authors.lastname: Slack
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Balkin
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Kowaloff
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Slack
mesh_terms: 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