Silence and rapport during initial interviews

Silence during counselling interviews was investigated for its contribution to client-perceived rapport as assessed at one-minute intervals by a Standardised Client methodology. Fifty-nine interviews of about one hour were examined to determine if silence was associated with greater or lesser rapport, and if there were identifiable links between whether the counsellor or the client initiated or terminated the silence. Additionally, the kinds of verbal response modes which initiated and terminated silences were examined. Results indicated significantly higher amounts of silence during minutes rated as Very High in rapport versus those rated as Low in rapport, and that counsellor-initiated but client-terminated silences were more likely to contribute towards rapport than silences that were initiated and terminated by the counsellor. Suggestions are made for the continued integration of silence into counsellor training programmes, as well as the need to encourage students not to feel intimidated or anxious about silence during their therapy interviews.