Rapport (psychology)

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Rapport (from French "relationship, connection") describes a currently trusting relationship supported by mutual empathic attention , i. H. "Good contact" between two people. The psychoanalyst Daniel Stern also speaks of attunement , i.e. the fine-tuning of emotional communication.

Rapport is of fundamental importance in the early parent-child relationship , where it is the prerequisite for secure attachment . In this special context of developmental psychology one often does not speak of “rapport”, but of contingency , because the child learns causal relationships between its own behavior and the reaction of the interacting partner through “good contact”. However, the terms are closely related.

The term "rapport" is used in particular to refer to the relationship between psychotherapist and client. Hypnotist and hypnotized person applied. The use of the term in psychology goes back to Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815), who may have used it for the first time in such a context. Pierre Janet (1859–1947) introduced it as a specific term for the relationship between hypnotist and hypnotized person, Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) then extended the use to the therapist-client relationship.

description

When people come into contact with one another, their verbal and non-verbal communication usually adapts to one another unconsciously . The more positively the contact is rated by the individual, the stronger his or her adaptation (relationship) to the other person is.

  • On the verbal level, this is expressed in the use of similar words and idioms, the same speaking speed and pitch, and in adapted speech volume and rhythm.
  • This is shown non-verbally in the adaptation and synchronization of gestures and facial expressions . For example, the leg and arm posture is mirrored, the same movement sequences are performed and the breathing frequency and rhythm are adjusted. In accelerated playback, communication resembles a dance. The behavioral scientist Desmond Morris describes this with his term attitude echo .

With existing rapport, people tend to evaluate each other positively, tend to trust each other and take what is said less critically.

From birth, humans have the ability to establish rapport. The Neuropsychology has found searching specialized brain structures called mirror neurons .

Areas of application of the term

Parent-child relationship

In developmental psychology, the terms "rapport" and "contingency" denote the agreement and the changing coordination in the interaction between mother and mother. Caregiver and infant. The correspondence can lead from congruent behavioral processes in mother and child to playfully modified and / or staggered correspondences. A prime example is smiling at each other.

Series of experiments with infants have shown since the late 1970s that the infant's spontaneous emotional expressions lead to a response from the mother that is essentially based on imitation in a playful way. Sometimes there are also modified forms of imitation, which lead to a game of communication, usually also enriched with rhythmic elements. At least from the fourth month of life, such reciprocal communication processes that lead to a mutual influence on the mood are considered secure. All further experiments demonstrated the outstanding role of this early coordination in communication for the development of the psyche.

In recent years, it was mainly the authors Peter Fonagy , Gyorgy Gergely, Elliot L. Jurist and Mary Target, on the role of early voting in the formation of the reflection function, which of them so-called mentalizing or the theory of mind pointed . This higher human ability to assume that the other person I am communicating with or observing has internal processes such as wishes, intentions, aversions etc. is only fully developed in the fourth year of life.

The disturbances that arise with the disability in the development of these abilities, such as those caused by the consistent refusal of "contingent" answers to the utterances of the infant and toddler, are dramatic. They span the full spectrum of severe personality disorders . In traumatic interventions in the life of the infant, such as abuse, mistreatment or neglect are the consequences of this theory so as dramatic because the child the experience of contingent operations with significant others can not do or can not do in that relaxed atmosphere in any case, the is necessary for learning and practicing. If, however, no experience of one's own effectiveness is made in always similar cycles of behavior, then this not only prevents the development of the theory of mind (i.e. the ability to attribute a soul to other people), but also the possibility of being able to regulate one's own mental life. The internalization of successful maternal attempts at regulation through communication, which in normal development forms the basis of self-regulation , does not occur due to the lack of this regulation and cannot be learned. The child's mental life does not develop sufficient abilities to deal with emerging impulses .

The sensitive entering from parents to their child's signals are also called "sensitive responsiveness" High responsiveness is one of the hallmarks of an authoritative educational style .

Conversational situations

In order to establish rapport, one can sensitively and respectfully adapt to the body language of the other, i.e. mirror the body language. It is not imitating, not aping - because this is a conspicuous, exaggerated, and indiscriminate copying of another person's movements, which is usually understood as an attack. One can adapt to arm movements with small hand movements, to body movements with head movements. This is called shifted mirroring. Matching the voice is another way of recording rapport. The key, the speed, the volume and the speech rhythm can be mirrored. Adjusting to each other's breath is a very powerful way of building rapport. Some counselors and therapists mirror subconsciously.

In professional relationships (e.g. doctor-patient, sales or consultation), consciously establishing rapport can be beneficial for the purpose of establishing efficient communication quickly. The NLP also uses this knowledge . The rapport is seen as an important element in interpersonal communication and trained accordingly.

If you don't align, that's mismatching. Mismatching, the opposite of adapting, is a useful skill. With their help one can, for example, end a conversation by breaking out of the "dance of conversation".

Use in hypnosis

In hypnosis a strong rapport for attaining the is trance states, necessary and also to suggestions to use effectively. When rapport is achieved, attention is tied and receptivity is increased. The process can be consciously designed through pacing and leading .

  • In pacing ( going along ) the hypnotist current circumstances and behavior and alleged emotional perceptions of the listener, which he used certain language patterns verbally describes. These linguistic patterns allow for possible interpretations of the content, which enable the listener to find his own world of experience in the words. The aim is for the listener to (inwardly) agree to what has been said. With consent, the listener builds trust in the speaker. Non-verbal complementary body language can be supportive. The hypnotist goes along and signals to the listener that he recognizes him and his needs.
  • When leading ( guiding ) the hypnotist takes over the leading role and can the listener, because if he goes along, for example, influence through their own slowed breathing in his breathing.

Pacing and leading can form a circular process until rapport is established.

One speaks of loss of rapport when the rapport is ended by breaking through the established verbal and non-verbal communication. This can be, for example, physically turning away from the conversation partner.

In hypnosis, suggestions that do not correspond to any current experience, needs and possibilities, such as contradicting moral concepts, absurd physical sensations, can end the rapport or its development (pacing, leading). An increased risk of such a loss of rapport, for example, can be associated with (hypnotically supported) trauma therapy. This is not the only reason why such treatment should only be reserved for appropriately trained therapists.

The consequence of a loss of rapport can be a flattening of the trance, partial or complete withdrawal from the trance, which may be accompanied by confusion and upset. If necessary, a report in hypnosis can also break off without the trance being ended and the patient waking up. In this case it is then more difficult to restore rapport in order to end the hypnosis properly. A broken rapport without leaving the trance will often turn into normal sleep after some time, but previous suggestions may remain, which would then have to be canceled by renewed hypnosis.

See also

literature

psychotherapy

Historical concepts (of romantic medicine )

  • Hippolyte Bernheim: The suggestion and its healing effect. Authorized German edition by Sigmund Freud. 2nd Edition. Leipzig / Vienna 1896.
  • Franz Anton Mesmer: About my discoveries. Translated from the French, Jena 1800.
  • Albert Moll: The Rapport in Hypnosis. Investigations into animal magnetism. In: Writings of the Society for Psychological Research. Collection 1, volume 3/4, Leipzig 1893, pp. 273-514.
  • Sabine Kleine: The rapport between animal magnetism and hypnotism. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 13, 1995, pp. 299-330.

NLP

  • J. O'Connor, J. Seymour: Neurolinguistic Programming: Successful Communication and Personal Development . VAK Verlag for Applied Kinesiology, 1992, ISBN 3-924077-66-5 .
  • Walter Ötsch , Thies Stahl : The dictionary of NLP: the NLP encyclopedia project. Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn 1997, ISBN 3-87387-336-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sabine Kleine: The rapport between animal magnetism and hypnotism. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 13, 1995, pp. 299-330; here: p. 299.
  2. ^ A. Colman: Oxford Dictionary of Psychology. 3. Edition. Oxford University Press , New York 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-860761-8 , p. 635.
  3. ^ HO Häcker, Stapf K.-H .: Dorsch Psychological Dictionary . 14th edition. Verlag Hans Huber , Bern 2009, ISBN 978-3-456-84684-2 , p. 781.
  4. ^ W. Fröhlich: Dictionary of Psychology. 27th edition. dtv , Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-423-32514-1 , p. 399.
  5. ↑ Gerhard Stumm, Alfred Pritz: Dictionary of Psychotherapy. Springer , Vienna / New York 2000, ISBN 3-211-83248-3 , p. 580.
  6. ↑ T. Berry Brazelton , B. Koslowski, M. Main: The Origins of Recoprocity. The Early Mother-Infant Interaction . John Wiley, 1974.
  7. ^ Peter Fonagy, György Gergely, Elliot L. Jurist, Mary Target: Affect regulation, mentalization and the development of the self . Velcro-Cotta, 2004.
  8. ↑ Cf. on this: Dorothee Gutknecht: "Responsiveness can be translated as" responsiveness "or" response behavior ", a meaning is often assigned in the sense of" attuning to someone "." Responsivity: answering and attuning, article on nifbe.de (Lower Saxony Institute for Early Childhood Education and Development), accessed on August 4, 2016.