Semantic communication and expectations for counseling across three theoretical orientations

Using excerpts taken from 2 time periods in each interview from the film series, Three Approaches to Psychotherapy, the language of the counselors (C. Rogers, F. Perls, and A. Ellis) and the client was compared to determine whether relations exist between participants' speech in the interview and the counselor's prior stated intentions for the interaction. Language was analyzed by means of the Computer-Assisted Language Analysis System; the dependent measures were verb phrases classified into types of inherent semantic relators. Counselors differed significantly in their use of verb phrases defining (a) states or properties of objects, (b) actions initiated by agents, and (c) a compound of experiential states and actions. In contrast, the client's language was remarkably consistent from interview to interview, with 1 exception: The client's use of verbs defining experience was significantly more frequent when talking with Rogers than when talking with Ellis. Results are discussed in terms of how structural analyses of language may help counselors (a) identify treatment policies mutually formulated and implemented at different stages of the counseling process and (b) relate these policies to the needs of clients whose cultural background is different from that of the counselor. (20 ref)