Did you know that building a strong connection between therapist and client—known as a therapeutic alliance—is one of the most powerful and consistently proven factors for success in psychotherapy? This powerful connection between therapist and patient, centred around emotional bonding and aligned treatment goals, forms the foundation for effective treatment outcomes. Yet, disruptions or “ruptures” in this alliance can significantly impact therapy progress, making them a critical area of study for improving therapeutic results.

Exploring the Dynamics of Psychotherapy
Our new research dives deep into these alliance ruptures, exploring how they arise, evolve, and potentially resolve during psychotherapy sessions. Our motivation for this research stems from the pressing need to enhance therapy success rates by understanding the mechanisms behind these ruptures—and the possible ways to address them.

Innovative Methods and Tools in Use
In our study, we are utilizing advanced techniques to track and analyse patient-therapist interactions, including ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and motion energy analysis. The innovative aspect lies in using ODEs to model the physical synchronization, or lack thereof, between therapist and patient movements, examining whether this synchrony could signal the occurrence and resolution of ruptures. 

Our Research Team
This project is supported by a collaborative research team at the Psychotherapy Research Lab at the University of Haifa. We are a group of clinicians, statisticians, and data scientists working together, combining expertise from both the therapeutic and analytical sides to rigorously examine and model these complex therapy dynamics.

Mr. Oleksandr Laskorunskyi, a PhD student in the Department of Statistics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, is focused on developing the ODEs model and its estimation method, operating under the supervision of Dr. Itai Dattner from the same department. 

Prof. Sigal Zilcha-Mano, from the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, supplied the clinical trial data and offer specialized expertise and guidance on the data and the psychotherapy dimensions of the research.

Contribution to the Field
This research marks a significant step forward in psychotherapy by linking physical synchrony with alliance ruptures, enhancing our understanding of how body language and movement play a role in therapy. By developing models and new statistical methods to interpret these dynamics, our study aims to provide therapists with tools to recognize and address ruptures, potentially increasing therapy success rates and providing deeper interpersonal insights.

Academic Outputs and Progress
We have submitted the findings of our research to a peer-reviewed journal focusing on the development of novel mathematical and statistical/data science methodologies in the field of psychotherapy.