Nonverbal synchrony (NVS) of a patient’s and therapist’s body parts during a therapy session has been linked with therapeutic alliance. However, the link between NVS of face parts with therapeutic alliance remains unclear. The clarification of this link is important in understanding NVS. Accordingly, we used a video imaging technique to provide quantitative evidence of this link. The 55 participants in this study were the same as in a previous study. Both the participants’ and the therapist’s faces were video recorded during structured psychotherapeutic interviews. Our machine quantified 500,500 participants’ faces and 500,500 therapists’ faces from the perspectives of facial movements and expressions. Results show that absolute synchrony of happy and scared expressions were positively related to therapeutic alliance. However, symmetrical synchrony of left eye movements negatively predicted therapeutic alliance, although participants’ sex, age, volume of facial movements, and volume of facial expressions were controlled. Absolute synchrony of facial expressions was regarded as emotional interaction within 2 s delay, whereas symmetrical synchrony of left eye movements was regarded as a blocker of emotional interaction.

中文翻译：

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面部运动和表情的非言语同步性预测结构化心理治疗访谈中的治疗联盟

治疗期间患者和治疗师身体部位的非语言同步（NVS）已与治疗联盟联系在一起。然而，面部NVS与治疗联盟之间的联系仍不清楚。澄清此链接对于理解NVS非常重要。因此，我们使用视频成像技术来提供此链接的定量证据。这项研究的55名参与者与先前的研究相同。在结构化的心理治疗访谈中，参与者和治疗师的脸部都被录制了视频。我们的机器从面部动作和表情的角度对500,500位参与者的面部和500,500位治疗师的面部进行了量化。结果表明，快乐和害怕表达的绝对同步与治疗联盟正相关。然而，尽管参与者的性别，年龄，面部运动量和面部表情量受到控制，但左眼运动的对称同步性消极地预示着治疗联盟。面部表情的绝对同步被认为是2 s延迟内的情感互动，而左眼运动的对称同步被视为情感互动的障碍。