Nonverbal behavior is a central factor influencing the therapeutic relationship. Despite broad agreement on its importance, empirical studies assessing nonverbal behavior in counseling and psychotherapy are relatively scarce and often limited to few cases. One restraining factor may be the resources needed when assessing nonverbal behavior. Movement dynamics are an exemplary aspect of nonverbal behavior that can be captured with computer vision-a discipline concerned with the automated analysis of footage captured on video. One of the simplest methods requiring no special detectors, devices, or markers on patients or therapists is based on the assessment of differences in sequences of pictures (frames) found in video recordings. Algorithms of so-called frame-differencing methods may be implemented on commonly available computers, and they provide a good, straightforward assessment of, for example, patients' and therapists' movement dynamics in counseling and therapy sessions. Frame-differencing methods in psychology date back 36 years, but their use in counseling and psychotherapy research is only recently gaining momentum. In this introductory article, the use of one specific application suitable for the assessment of human motion from archival video material is presented. Motion energy analysis (MEA) is a procedure particularly appropriate for clinicians and researchers who have access to recordings of sessions or who wish to record their own video material. Focusing on the phenomenon of nonverbal synchrony-the coordination of movement between patient and therapist-a step-by-step demonstration of the stages involved in a successful application of MEA in psychotherapy research is provided. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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运动能量分析 (MEA)：视频运动评估入门。

非语言行为是影响治疗关系的核心因素。尽管对其重要性达成广泛共识，但在咨询和心理治疗中评估非语言行为的实证研究相对较少，而且通常仅限于少数案例。一个限制因素可能是评估非语言行为时所需的资源。运动动力学是非语言行为的一个典型方面，可以用计算机视觉来捕捉 - 一门与对视频中捕捉到的镜头进行自动分析有关的学科。不需要在患者或治疗师身上使用特殊探测器、设备或标记的最简单方法之一是基于对视频记录中图片（帧）序列差异的评估。所谓的帧差分方法的算法可以在常用的计算机上实现，并且它们提供了对例如患者和治疗师在咨询和治疗过程中的运动动态的良好、直接的评估。心理学中的框架差异方法可以追溯到 36 年前，但它们在咨询和心理治疗研究中的使用直到最近才获得动力。在这篇介绍性文章中，介绍了一种适用于评估档案视频材料中人体运动的特定应用程序的使用。运动能量分析 (MEA) 是一种特别适用于有权访问会议记录或希望录制自己的视频材料的临床医生和研究人员的程序。专注于非语言同步现象——患者和治疗师之间的运动协调——提供了在心理治疗研究中成功应用 MEA 所涉及的阶段的逐步演示。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2020 APA，保留所有权利）。