title: A theoretical and methodological proposal for the descriptive assessment of therapeutic interactions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this study is to show the development of a strategy for a descriptive assessment of the therapeutic interaction.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, we develop an observational methodology to analyze the dialogues that took place during 92 sessions conducted in a psychological center in Madrid, Spain, in which 19 adults were treated for various psychological problems by 9 behavioral therapists. A system was developed to codify vocal behavior of both the therapists and the clients; the software The Observer XT was used for recording. Therapeutic interactions were analyzed using sequential analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There are three main sequences that synthesize the therapist-client interaction: first, an utterance by the client preceded by a therapist's verbalization, specifically a question (discriminative morphology) and followed by an expression of approval (reinforcement morphology); second, verbalizations of failure or discomfort uttered by the client, followed most often by verbalizations of disapproval (punishing morphology) uttered by the therapist; and third, verbalizations uttered by the client that are discriminated by the therapist after an in-depth explanation and followed by different therapist's utterances (expressions of approval, technical information, etc.).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depending on how the client responds the results in this study present a starting point for the study of the functional sequences that form the basis of therapeutic change.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological and Health Psychology , Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: María Xesús
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Froján-Parga
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological and Health Psychology , Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Elena M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Sancho
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biological and Health Psychology , Universidad Autónoma de Madrid , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calero-Elvira
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D014705:Verbal Behavior
keywords: Ausdrucksverhalten; Prozessforschung; Psychotherapie; analisi funzionale; assessment descrittivo; beschreibendes Assessment; descriptive assessment; functional analysis; funktionale Analyse; interazione terapeutica; interazione verbale; processes research; psicoterapia; psychotherapy; ricerca di processo; therapeutic interaction; therapeutische Interaktion; vocal behavior