Clients' narratives in psychotherapy and therapist's theoretical orientation : an exploratory analysis of Gloria's narratives with Rogers, Ellis and Perls

The therapist’s theoretical orientation has been shown to impact the
psychotherapy process. However, less is known about the extent to which
the therapist’s orientation may impact clients’ narratives. This exploratory
study analysed clients’ narrative production in psychoptherapy, when
interacting with different therapists. The data consisted of transcripts of
Shostrom’s videotaped therapy sessions between the client Gloria and the
therapists Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls and Albert Ellis. Gloria’s narratives were
analyzed in terms of narrative dimensions: structural coherence, process
complexity and content multiplicity. Gloria’s narratives where characterised
by higher levels of stuctural coherence, process complexity and content
multiplicity when interacting with Carl Rogers. This exploratory study
identified the tendency of clients’ narrative production in psychotherapy
vary accordingly to the therapist theoretical orientation. Future studies
(using more robust methodologies) that contribute to clarify the impact of
the therapist theoretical orientation on narrative co-construction in
psychotherapy settings are needed.