Therapeutic hours conducted by analytically oriented, experientially oriented, and nonprofessional therapists were rated along eight process dimensions. Only patient negativism and patient exploration failed to yield significant effects. Replicated the findings of previous analogue investigations. (Author)

This paper presents both a developmental and an operational definition of the process of therapeutic communication and analyzes the dynamics of the helping relationship in terms of therapeutic communication. Basically, therapeutic communication is defined operationally by the complementary communication behaviors which occur in each stage of the…

Therapeutic communication, or interaction which provokes personal insight or reorientation, can be best understood as a transactive, rather than linear, interrelationship between people or groups. Two practical responses to "pathological" communication patterns illustrate the validity of the transactional communication theory: the…