Implication of silence in a Japanese psychotherapy context: a preliminary study using quantitative analysis of silence and utterance of a therapist and a client

Crossover Mixed Analysis in a Convergent Mixed Methods Design Used to Investigate Clinical Dialogues About Cancer Treatment in the Japanese Context

“…In the above exchange, the oncologist maintained a wait-and-see attitude. Nagaoka et al (2013) investigated silence in clinical dialogues in a Japanese psychotherapy context where therapists gave their clients plenty of time to focus on their internal process, and discussed its implications. Such nonverbal communication might help maintain harmonious relationships (Kakai, 2002; Saldov et al, 1998) or even help secure agreement to a course of treatment.…”

The Silent Treatment? Changes in patient emotional expression after silence

“…The current data also lack demographic information to better understand the relationship between individuals' identities and silence (e.g. gender; Ramakrishna et al, 2015), and a broader relationship of silence, cultural norms (Nagaoka et al, 2013) and relational power dynamics. Studies have primarily examined silences in the context of European countries and the mainland and continental United States (Heldner & Edlund, 2010).…”

“…Therapy studies have included initial interviews (Sharpley et al, 2005), psychodynamic therapy (Hill et al, 2003), psychoanalysis (Daniel et al, 2018), general psychotherapy at a college counselling centre (Cook, 1964) and therapists providing cognitive behavioural therapy, humanistic and psychodynamic therapy (Cuttler et al, 2019). However, according to linguistics researchers, the majority of silences in everyday conversation range from 0.1 to 0.3 s (Heldner & Edlund, 2010; Xiao et al, 2015; Levinson & Torreira, 2015; see Nagaoka et al, 2013, for a counterexample due to variations in language, culture and conversational norms). Silences lasting more than 3 s are considered rare (see Holler et al, 2016).…”

“…However, according to linguistics researchers, the majority of silences in everyday conversation range from 0.1 to 0.3 s (Heldner & Edlund, 2010;Xiao et al, 2015;Levinson & Torreira, 2015; see Nagaoka et al, 2013, for a counterexample due to variations in language, culture and conversational norms). Silences lasting more than 3 s are considered rare (see Holler et al, 2016).…”

How Silence Contributes to the Performance of Sincerity in Psychotherapy

“…Differences in silence can be contextual or cultural (Berger, 2011;Gardner et al, 2009), and in psychotherapy may be followed by heightened emotional expression (Hill et al, 2019;Soma et al, 2023). Nagaoka et al (2013) found that in a Japanese sample, more silence during sessions was associated with higher satisfaction ratings. In some instances, silence is not only unproblematic but necessary for a preferred response to be treated as such.…”