Language as power in the therapy room: A study of bilingual (Arabic–English) therapists' experiences

The topic of language as power (LaP) in individual therapeutic encounters has thus far been overlooked, and as bilingual therapists have the ability to use more than one language in the therapy room, their experience of LaP is a compelling research area that this paper attempts to explore. This qualitative, inductive, phenomenological study used interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore five bilingual Arabic–English-speaking therapists' experiences of LaP in the therapeutic encounter. The study identifies two overarching themes: (a) the emergence of identity and power from language and (b) comparisons of power in the English and Arabic languages. Within these themes, the study finds that therapists experience LaP through multiple avenues: self-disclosure, intersectionality, being transported to different identities and expressions of power and power of expression in Arabic–English. These multiple avenues illustrate the complexity of LaP in the therapeutic encounter. The study sheds light on an underexplored area in psychotherapy, illuminating an important area for psychotherapists and training institutions to consider when working with clients.     

Bilingual Language Mixing: Why Do Bilinguals Code-Switch?

Bilingual speakers often code-switch from one language to another, especially when both languages are used in the environment. This article explores the potential theoretical explanations for this language behavior, the costs and benefits associated with language switching, and the role of language dominance in the direction of the switch. In short, code switching follows functional and grammatical principles and is a complex, rule-governed phenomenon. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the psycholinguistics of code switching, research is needed to examine the cognitive mechanisms underlying the bilingual's ability to integrate and separate two languages during the communicative process.     

Clinicians’ Attitudes Toward Therapeutic Alliance in E-Therapy

Although therapeutic alliance is a crucial factor in face-to-face therapies, no data exist on clinicians’ attitudes towards alliance in E-therapy. The study explored clinicians’ perceived importance of alliance in E-therapy, clinicians’ confidence in their skills to develop alliance in E-therapy, and whether attitudes towards alliance in E-therapy are associated with intended E-therapy practice. Clinicians (n = 106) responded to an online survey. The majority of clinicians considered alliance to be extremely important in both face-to-face therapy and E-therapy. However, clinicians’ ratings of the importance of alliance in face-to-face therapies were significantly higher than their ratings of the importance of alliance in E-therapy. Clinicians reported less confidence in their skills to develop alliance in E-therapy than in face-to-face therapy. Intended E-therapy practice correlated with confidence in one's ability to develop alliance in E-therapy and with previous E-therapy practice.     

A new look at “the hard problem” of bilingual lexical access: evidence for language-switch costs with univalent stimuli

Considerable work has used language-switching tasks to investigate how bilinguals manage competition between languages. Language-switching costs have been argued to reflect persisting inhibition or persisting activation of a non-target language. However, these costs might instead reflect the use of bivalent stimuli (i.e. pictures or digits that can be responded to in either language). That is, language-switching costs may simply reflect a cost of selecting the task-appropriate response for a given item and so may not be reflective of bilingual lexical access [Finkbeiner, M., Almeida, J., Janssen, N., & Carramaza, A. (2006). Lexical selection in bilingual speech production does not involve language suppression. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32(5), 1075–1089]. The present study addresses this concern by having Chinese/English bilinguals switch between languages in response to inherently univalent stimuli (English words and Chinese Characters) as well as lexically univalent, but orthographically bivalent, stimuli (English words and Chinese Pinyin). Speakers showed switch costs when naming both univalent and orthographically bivalent stimuli, showing that switch costs can be found even with inherently univalent stimuli.     

双语者语言转换中非目标语言的加工机制

语言转换是指双语者由所掌握的一种语言转换到另一种语言的现象, 这一现象近些年来引起了研究者的广泛关注。针对语言转换中双语者在从心理词典中顺利提取所需要的语言(称之为目标语言)时如何加工在当前任务中不使用的那种语言(称之为非目标语言), 研究者进行了大量研究。仔细分析这些研究, 可以看出这些研究主要围绕着3个核心问题: (1)语言转换中双语者使用目标语言时非目标语言是否激活; (2)若非目标语言激活, 这种激活发生在何种层面(概念层面还是词汇层面); (3)激活的非目标语言会对目标语言产生什么样的影响。以此为基础, 本文从语言产生转换和语言理解转换两大领域对相关研究进行了总结和梳理, 最后对未来的语言转换研究进行了展望。     

汉-英和藏-汉-英双语者中、英文语码切换及代价研究

以汉—英和藏—汉—英双语者为被试,采用真假词判断范式,探讨中文和英文语码切换及代价。结果表明:(1)汉—英和藏—汉—英双语者中文语码切换代价不显著,英文语码切换代价显著;(2)汉—英和藏—汉—英双语者中、英文词加工差异显著,但语码切换趋势相同。这表明,加工方式和策略影响语言加工,不影响语码切换;语言熟练程度影响语码切换,两种语言的相对熟练程度决定切换代价的不对称性。     

语言转换影响双语认知优势的发展进程

本研究包括两部分,第一部分对双语转换问卷进行修订,用于客观测量双语者的语言转换能力;第二部分采用数字命名任务考察语言转换对双语认知优势发展进程的影响。结果发现,在低水平阶段,语言转换频率与转换消耗存在显著负相关;在高水平阶段,语言转换频率与转换消耗、混用消耗均存在显著负相关。结果说明,语言转换首先影响瞬时转换能力,积累一定的经验之后,才会对持续监控能力与抑制控制能力产生积极影响。本研究结果表明,双语认知优势效应的发展具有一定的顺序性。     

‘The third person in the room’: Recording the counselling interview for the purpose of counsellor training – barrier to relationship building or effective tool for professional development?

Objective: Audio and videotape interview recording for training and supervision in counsellor education is commonplace within New Zealand, yet researchers have paid little attention to its value perceived by students. This study explores counselling students’ perceptions of the effects of recording counselling interviews on themselves, their clients and on the counselling process. Design: Counselling students from five tertiary educational settings in New Zealand participated in individual or focus group interviews to discuss their experiences of recording counselling interviews. Findings: All interviewees indicated that recording initially curtailed their ability to be completely present in the counselling interview. Some thought this may have negatively influenced their clients’ ability to use the counselling session effectively. Most noted their own increased confidence over time. Almost all considered recording to be extremely beneficial to the development of effective counselling skills. Conclusion: Most students considered the benefits of recording to outweigh the drawbacks. Implications for continuing the practice of recording and playing back interviews in counsellor‐education programmes are considered.     

Client self-image,therapist acting,and the establishment of the therapeutic alliance in a training context

This study examined how clients’ self-image and perception of therapist’s behavior are related to the therapeutic alliance, as well as how these variables change in the psychotherapy process in trainee-led psychotherapy. A total of 164 participants (M = 28.9 years) who attended two semesters of treatment at the Psychology Clinic of Umeå University completed the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) to evaluate their perception of their alliance with the therapist. They also completed two questionnaires based on the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) model to give insight into their self-image patterns and to analyze their perceptions of the therapist’s behavior. The results show that a positive self-image and positive perceptions of the therapist’s actions increased significantly over the course of the therapy, with a corresponding decrease in negative patterns. The alliance scores show that the therapeutic alliance gains significance over time and that it is influenced more by the perception of the therapist’s behavior than by the self-image. The self-image becomes relevant after the mid part of therapy, underlining the role of the therapist in co-creating the treatment relationship. The implications of these results are discussed, and so are directions for future research in other trainee-led settings and samples.     

Client as expert: A Delphi poll of clients’ subjective experience of therapeutic alliance formation variables

This study extends prior research that identified client-derived variables believed to contribute to therapeutic alliance development. Forty-two clients participated in a three-round-modified Delphi poll in which the subjective importance of 74 client-derived, common alliance formation variables was rated using a six-point scale. Participants consensually identified 23 variables as highly important, five as moderately important and three as low in importance to the formation of a strong alliance. Variables related to validation and asking about parts of the client’s life other than the presenting concern were considered as most important by at least one-third of the sample. Limitations of the study are presented and implications for theory, measurement, practice and future research are briefly discussed.     

Recording supervision: Educational,therapeutic, and enhances the supervisory working alliance?

Aims: To explore the impact of listening to an audio‐recording of their latest supervision session on supervisees. Method: Participants recorded a supervision session, listened to it and were interviewed about this experience of listening to it within seven days of listening to the recording. The phenomenological interviews informed by the researcher's knowledge were analysed using grounded theory. Participants: Fifteen participants with 0–20 years’ experience, representing person‐centred, CBT, psychodynamic and integrative approaches, and qualifications ranging from student to doctorate formed the theoretical sample. Findings: Listening to the audio‐recording allowed participants to re‐experience their thoughts and emotions. Participants recalled and re‐experienced events which had been forgotten, unnoticed or (arguably) repressed. This re‐experiencing was usually less emotive than in real‐time; but suppressed emotions could be more intense. As participants integrated both these noticed and unnoticed events, they were able to accept what had been unacceptable, gaining self‐awareness, which was potentially therapeutic. Noticing what had been unnoticed permitted insights into many aspects of therapy and supervision, which was more than just ‘reflection‐on‐action’. Conclusion: Listening to an audio‐recording of the latest supervision may be educational for any supervisee; it may be therapeutic by facilitating challenge of maladaptive beliefs and behaviours; and it also seems to strengthen the supervisory working alliance.     

汉-英双语者图片命名任务中的语码切换代价

在图片命名范式下探讨了汉-英双语者汉、英两种语言之间的语码切换代价及影响切换代价不对称性的因素.实验一中发现了汉-英双语者的语码切换代价,但语码切换代价并未表现出不对称性;在加入时间间隔（ISI）变量后,短ISI条件下,汉-英双语者的语码切换代价表现出了不对称性,表现为从第二语言到第一语言的切换代价更大;而长ISI条件下,汉-英双语者的语码切换代价是对称的.这表明,图片命名任务中可出现语码切换代价,且ISI是影响语码切换代价不对称性的重要因素,支持并丰富了对优势语言的抑制说.