The impetus for this book comes from years of teaching and supervising graduate-level students and my being asked by thoughtful students some variation of the following question: “How do I ...
MoreThe impetus for this book comes from years of teaching and supervising graduate-level students and my being asked by thoughtful students some variation of the following question: “How do I go about establishing the working alliance?” In this volume, the authors focus on the working alliance, specifically Bordin’s conceptualization of the working alliance, which emphasizes therapist–client agreement on the goals and tasks of treatment, and the existence of a trust and bond that is made between the therapist and client. A perusal of the literature on the working alliance reveals that hundreds of studies have been conducted on the topic. Given the popularity of Bordin’s working alliance and the considerable research that has been conducted about it, it is surprising to find that there is little published work about the skills that are used in sessions to establish and sustain it. To address this gap in the literature, the authors provide examples of in-session therapist interventions and behaviors that can guide the reader toward forming stronger alliances in therapy and, hopefully, better processes and outcomes in treatment.
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