A Hong Kong study of working alliance inventory short form – therapist

ABSTRACT The ability to build a strong therapeutic alliance has direct impact on successful therapy outcome. However, there is limited knowledge about the therapeutic alliance in Chinese culture. This study aims to validate the factorial structure of a Chinese short form of the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI-S) for therapists and examine the correlation of alliance scores between therapist and client. The sample included 39 local counsellors and 139 local clients, who completed the Hong Kong versions of the WAI-S after the first and third counselling sessions. The principal component factor analyses indicated that similar to our previous findings for clients, the original three-factor model was not a fit one in the Hong Kong context and the one-factor, 10-item model was the best solution. The client and therapist ratings had low but significant positive correlations. Considering also that the WAI-S could be bifurcated to form two reliable subscales (goal–task and bond), it appears that the WAI-S may be instrumental in directing local counsellors’ attention to cultural dynamics relating to the mismatch between therapeutic goals derived from Western models and certain collectivist values of Chinese clients.