The Influence of Therapeutic Alliance in Psychotherapy

Abstract

Psychotherapy is a treatment for mental illnesses that helps the person to reduce symptoms, improves daily functioning and overall well-being. The therapeutic alliance is an essential component of psychotherapy, it influences the clients' adherence and treatment efficiency. There are many elements that influence the development of the therapeutic alliance like the therapist characteristics and training. The therapist must establish rapport with the client and set with them realistic goals and recognize their improvement and accomplishments. Therapists with higher social skills are perceived as more efficient, the capacity to empathize, genuineness with theclient and understandment of client's concerns helped in the development of the therapeutic alliance and benefitted the therapy outcome. Training is key in the development of these skills, especially for therapists with low social abilities. Therapist should make sure to leave assumptions aside, avoid suppositions about beliefs and customs based on what is ¨known¨ about a specific group, consider cultural and religious beliefs, they should also be aware of possible bias they may have towards that specific group. Psychotherapists should try to understand the problem from the client’s point of view, given that if they feel misunderstood, this could be a barrier for the therapeutic alliance. Mental health specialists are responsible for creating a safe space and a cooperative relationship, so the client feels comfortable expressing their issues, set goals and for the effectiveness of therapy.