Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Peluso, Paul R.
Abstract
A quasi-experimental, between groups design was used to evaluate differences in emotional behavior, as measured by the Specific Affect Coding System (SPAFF), between professional therapists and their clients and a master therapist and his client. This coding system also was used to determine how emotional behavior shown by a master therapist changes over the course of six psychotherapy sessions. The research team recorded counseling sessions at a university counseling center in the southeastern United States and coded this video data using SPAFF in real time. Data were analyzed quantitatively to determine whether significant differences in SPAFF codes exist between the master therapist, professional therapists at the university counseling center, and their respective clients. Results indicated that the master therapist showed significantly more neutral and less negative affect than his counterparts at the university in both sessions one and four. The master therapist’s client showed significantly more neutral affect and less negative in session one and significantly more positive affect and less negative affect in session four.
Extent
159 p.
Recommended Citation
Diaz, Patricia M., "Mastery in the Therapeutic Relationship: Comparing the Emotional Behavior of a Master Therapist with Professional Therapists and Its Impact on Their Clients" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 1731.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/1731
Identifier
FA00004954
Comments
Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.