Computer-assisted soliloquy as an approach to psychotherapy.

Schools of talking therapy generally consider the doctor-patient relationship to be essential to the therapeutic process. Yet studies reveal that the presence of a therapist can sometimes inhibit frank disclosure and that patients will speak alone, in the absence of a therapist, about matters of importance to them. We have programmed a computer interview to facilitate soliloquy and have studied its effectiveness. Encouraged by the computer, subjects talked into a microphone first about anxiety-provoking circumstances and then about relaxation. Both mean heart rate and State anxiety scores fell significantly between the beginning and the end of the interview.