Working Alliance Skills for Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors provide a brief overview of the history of the working alliance and a brief summary of the primary empirical findings on the topic to date. They also provide a rationale for the current book, including the need to better advance training in working alliance skills in graduate programs and, relatedly, the need for examples of in-session interventions that can help beginning as well as advanced clinicians establish stronger working alliances with their clients. A brief description is given of the chapters making up the book, along with an overall summary of the importance of educating students in the skills needed to form and maintain the working alliance with clients.