PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ya Zhang
AU  - Tian Meng
AU  - Yaxi Yang
AU  - Yi Hu
TI  - Experience-Dependent Counselor-Client Brain Synchronization during Psychological Counseling
AID  - 10.1523/ENEURO.0236-20.2020
DP  - 2020 Sep 01
TA  - eneuro
PG  - ENEURO.0236-20.2020
VI  - 7
IP  - 5
4099  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/7/5/ENEURO.0236-20.2020.short
4100  - http://www.eneuro.org/content/7/5/ENEURO.0236-20.2020.full
SO  - eNeuro2020 Sep 01; 7
AB  - The role of the counselor’s experience in building an alliance with the clients remains controversial. Recently, the expanding nascent studies on interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) on human subjects have hinted at the possible neural substrates underlying the relationship qualities between the counselor-client dyads. Our study assessed the clients’ self-report working alliance (WA) as well as simultaneously measured IBS by fNIRS in 14 experienced versus 16 novice counselor-client dyads during the first integrative-orientation psychological counseling session. We observed that synchronous brain activity patterns were elicited from the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) across counselor-client dyads. Furthermore, such IBS, together with alliance quality, was especially evident when counselors had more psychotherapy experience. Time-lagged counselor-client brain synchronization might co-vary with the alliance (goal component) when the client’s brain activity preceded that of the counselor. These findings favor the notion that the IBS between counselor-client associated with the WA is an experience-dependent phenomenon, suggesting that a potential adaptive mechanism is embedded in psychological counseling.