Language Style Matching in the Therapeutic Dyads of the Gloria Films: Rogers-Gloria, Perls-Gloria, and Ellis-Gloria

One of the most important factors to a successful counseling relationship is the therapeutic alliance. Recognizing how language contributes to the formation of the therapeutic alliance by studying corpus linguistics in therapeutic conversations was the aim of this research. This synchronic corpus linguistic study was designed to analyze transcribed counseling sessions of three renowned counselors featured in the popularly used training film, Three Approaches to Psychotherapy. The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software was utilized to analyze sequential sets of statements to determine measures of language style matching (LSM) between each counseling dyad. Four research questions guided this study with focus on the level of LSM within the three different dyads. Outcomes indicated that Carl Rogers demonstrated a higher level of LSM with his client, Gloria, using his client-centered theoretical approach than Fritz Perls and Albert Ellis who demonstrated their own approaches of Gestalt and Rational Emotive Behavioral therapies, respectively. Implications for counseling practice suggest that computerized linguistic measuring modalities is a promising tool for counselors-in-training for increased awareness of different therapeutic approaches, recognition of relational ruptures and building therapeutic alliance during counseling sessions.