Three Quantitative Studies of Gender and Identity in Psychotherapy Consultations

This paper presents comparative data derived from Gender and Identity scores for a female patient who saw three different male psychoanalysts in videotaped consultations. Nine subscores for gender (e.g., sexuality, family, body, etc.) were established line by line for each protocol with good interrater reliability. Three analyses were made for each session: (1) statistical comparisons across consultations of the frequency of gender subthemes and allusions to identity issues; (2) an analysis of the (grammar informational) complexity of the sequence of gender and identity speakers, and of the gender subscores; and (3) a stochastic analysis of the sequence in which the patient and her consultant assumed the role of gender-related speaker. Major differences between sessions were found in all of the studies.