Two studies explored how counselor and client agreement on the therapy alliance, at the beginning of treatment, influenced early session evaluations and symptom change. Unlike prior studies that operationalized alliance convergence as either a profile similarity correlation or a difference score, the present study used polynomial regression and…

This study sought to assess the association of client- and therapist-rated real relationship with each other and with the outcome of brief psychotherapy. It also aimed to determine whether changes over time in perceptions of the real relationship and increasing convergence between clients' and therapists' ratings of the real relationship were…

There is a lack of research examining patients' and other group members' agreement about their therapeutic alliance. In the present study, the person-group (P-G) fit model was adopted to predict that the group member symptom reduction will be greater when the group member's and the other group members' perceptions of their alliance to the…

Predictions of family therapy outcome consistently vary depending on which client rates the alliance. We used the actor-partner interdependence model (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006) to test the interdependence of parents' and adolescents' ratings of alliance, session depth/value, and improvement-so-far after Sessions 3, 6, and 9. Initial analyses…

Researchers examining the therapy relationship are encouraged "to study both patients' and therapists' contribution to the relationship and the ways in which these contributions combine to impact treatment outcome" (Steering Committee, 2002, p. 443). Research on the therapeutic alliance, however, is dominated by studies that examine the individual…

Examined the hypothesized relationship among counselor androgyny, counselor flexibility, and the establishment of client-rated working alliances. There was no relationship between androgyny and counselor flexibility. There was a significant relationship between counselor flexibility and client ratings of working alliance. Research and clinical…

The relationship between counselor experience and client-perceived working alliance is examined (N=40 clients). Client attachment, specifically comfort with intimacy, moderated the relationship between experience and working alliance. Because previous research found interaction effects, discussion focuses on the moderating factors relating to…

Clients, 15 student volunteers paired with 15 counselors trainees for 4 sessions, rated strength of working alliance for each counseling session and scored counselor technical activity on various dimensions. Counselors were rated as relatively more challenging, thematically focused, and here-and-now oriented in improving dyads (eight dyads) than…

States that there was convergence in counselors' and clients' reports of important session events. Found that convergence of important session therapeutic events increased linearly over time, and that increasing convergence was related to counseling outcomes, as measured by a decrease in interpersonal problems. Concludes that a match in important…

Examined the relation between counselor intention use and client-rated working alliance. Analyzed ratings of client interpersonal attitudes, client-rated working alliance, and counselor intention use. Major finding was that counselor intention use accounted for moderate proportion of variance in client-rated working alliance. Specific counselor…

Surveyed 75 trainees after supervision sessions to assess working alliances, as well as the trainee's adherence to a treatment model. Found that the trainee's perception of the supervisory alliance was significantly related both to the client's perception of the counseling alliance and to aspects of treatment adherence. Trainees apparently applied…