In an attempt to operationalize an implicit aspect of the therapeutic alliance, this article proposes the use of the innovative, objective, and time-efficient analysis of language style matching (LSM; Niederhoffer & Pennebaker, 2002). LSM, defined as the degree of similarity in rates of function words in dyadic interactions, is thought to reflect the extent to which conversational partners are automatically coordinating language styles to achieve a common goal. Although LSM has often been researched in the context of everyday conversations, little is known about the matching of clients and therapists' language style in the psychotherapy process. To demonstrate the clinical usefulness of the LSM approach in psychotherapy, 2 exploratory examples of the application of LSM in long-term psychoanalytic treatments are provided. First, LSM analyses per session and per speaking-turn are described for psychotherapy data of 140 sessions of 7 long-term psychoanalytic treatments in relation to outcome measures. Then, a case study is described in which LSM is triangulated with an observer-rated measure of working alliance in relation to outcome measures. These 2 demonstrative empirical examples were explorative in character and illustrate how LSM might tap into an implicit aspect of the therapeutic relationship, different from the working alliance measured by observers, and relevant for treatment outcome. Future larger-scale psychotherapy studies into the relationship between these implicit aspects of the alliance and treatment outcome and relevant clients and therapists' variables are warranted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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心理治疗中的语言风格匹配：联盟的一个隐含方面。

为了实现治疗联盟的隐含方面，本文建议使用语言风格匹配的创新、客观和省时的分析（LSM；Niederhoffer & Pennebaker，2002）。LSM，定义为二元交互中虚词率的相似程度，被认为反映了对话伙伴自动协调语言风格以实现共同目标的程度。尽管 LSM 经常在日常对话的背景下进行研究，但对心理治疗过程中来访者和治疗师的语言风格的匹配知之甚少。为了证明 LSM 方法在心理治疗中的临床实用性，提供了两个 LSM 在长期精神分析治疗中应用的探索性例子。第一的，针对与结果测量相关的 7 次长期心理分析治疗的 140 次心理治疗数据，描述了每个会话和每个演讲轮次的 LSM 分析。然后，描述了一个案例研究，其中 LSM 使用与结果测量相关的观察者评级的工作联盟测量进行三角测量。这两个示范性经验示例具有探索性，说明 LSM 如何利用治疗关系的隐性方面，不同于观察者衡量的工作联盟，并与治疗结果相关。未来有必要对联盟的这些隐含方面与治疗结果与相关客户和治疗师的变量之间的关系进行更大规模的心理治疗研究。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2020 APA，保留所有权利）。