Physiological Correlates of Tension and Antagonism During Psychotherapy

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Abstract
The phrase "interpersonal physiology" was coined to indicate a phenomenon in which the physiological responses of one member of an interacting group are related to the verbal interactions of another member of the group. During psychotherapeutic interviews continuous and synchronous recordings were made of social interactions (the Bales'' System of Interaction Process Analysis) and physiological activities of both patient and therapist. Selected categories of the interactions of the patient were correlated with the heart rate mean and heart rate lability of patient and therapist, and with skin temperature level and lability of the patient. Results indicated that: 1. The higher the number of "tension" scores for the patient during a given interview, the higher the patient''s heart rate. The higher the number of "tension release" scores for the patient, the lower the patient''s heart rate. No relationship was found between the patient''s neutral affect area scores and his physiological activity. In general, the patient''s heart was most labile with "tension release" and least labile with "tension". 2. The higher the number of "tension" scores for the patient during a given interview, the higher the therapist''s heart rate and the lower his heart lability during that interview. Just as with the patient, no relationship was found between the patient''s neutral affect area scores and the therapist''s physiological activity. Thus a strong tendency existed for the therapist''s heart rate and lability to follow a pattern of reaction, similar to that of the patient, during the patient''s affective expressions along a tension continuum. 3. When the patient expressed "antagonism" the cardiac functioning of patient and therapist exhibited opposite trends: the patient''s heart rate would slow down whereas the therapist''s would speed up. The results suggest a "positive physiological identification" of therapist with patient when the latter is expressing "tension" or "tension release" but a "negative one" when he is expressing "antagonism". Evidence is also presented to show that different "emotions" noted in this patient during psychotherapy tend to be expressed through different peripheral physiological pathways.

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