複数メンバーを対象とした面接場面におけるセラピストの視線行動について

―セラピストの視線機能に関する仮説生成的研究―

抄録

　　In a counseling session with multiple family members, the way in which the therapist communicates during the formation of relationships with family members has a bearing on subsequent therapeutic actions. In this context, many experimental studies have focused on the implications of nonverbal communication in a therapeutic system. Among the different modalities of nonverbal communication, the importance of gaze, namely, the extent to which it affects conversation, has been demonstrated in various contexts. In this study, we examined the video recordings of actual counseling sessions using an approach derived from the technique of conversation analysis. We also investigated the question of how therapists might support therapeutic interactions by controlling their visual attention in particular ways.

　　By analyzing the ways in which therapists controlled their visual attention, we identified the following three patterns: (1) the therapist begins to ask the mother questions while looking at her, he/she then momentarily looks at the identified patient (IP), and his/her gaze again returns to the mother; (2) the therapist, with his/her visual attention, attends to the mother at the beginning of the session but attends to the IP when the session approaches the end; and (3) the therapist exchanges glances with other family members while listening to a family member. We surmised that therapists, by controlling their visual attention in such ways, would direct the mother's attention to the IP, support mother-child interactions, or emphasize the neutrality of the therapist's role.

　　In this study, we simply attempted to formulate a hypothesis by analyzing the actual therapeutic scenes. However, in light of the present findings, we find it imperative to study more cases in the future. In addition, we will continue our attempts to prove the hypothesis through further experiments.