Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

This study was designed to determine the effect of touch on the interpersonal attraction between therapist and patient. Four instruments were used to measure the effect, those measurements included "Client's Personal Reaction Questionnaire," "Attitudes Toward Psychotherapy and Psychotherapists Scale," actual physical distance and actual timed verbal measure. The general nature of the research hypotheses stated that the touch technique would increase the interpersonal attraction of the patients toward the therapist as indicated by the four measures. The results of the study led to the conclusion that touch during a single interview session effects statistically significant change in interpersonal attraction when measured by actual physical distance. However change in interpersonal attraction was not found when measured by the "Client's Personal Reaction Questionnaire," "Attitudes Toward Psychotherapy and Psychotherapists Scale" and an actual timed verbal measure. Implications of the study, based on observations of the experimenter, were that touch is successful in helping hospitalized neuropsychiatric patients increase their interpersonal attraction and that this attraction cannot always be measured by global questionnaires and specific amounts of verbalization. A similar study should be replicated with subjects other than neuropsychiatric patients, such as hospitalized medical patients, college students and children.