Interpersonal brain synchronization associated with working alliance during psychological counseling

The mechanisms underlying behavioral synchrony during psychological counseling are not clear. Recent research has provided evidence that pervasive synchrony is associated with interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) and possibly contributes to the positive working alliance—the degree to which the counseling dyads engage in collaborative and purposive work. Our study explored the IBS between the clients and the counselors using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning. Thirty-four participants (as clients) were randomly assigned either to the psychological counseling group or to the chatting group; three female professional counselors provided them with 40 minutes of psychological counseling or chatting. We found better working alliances and increased IBS in the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) between clients and counselors during psychological counseling (versus chatting). Such IBS also correlated with the bond of working alliance. To our knowledge, our work represents the first demonstration of fNIRS-hyperscanning measurements for synchronous brain activity between the clients and counselors. This study refines the neural explanation of behavioral synchrony during psychological counseling.