Ongoing evaluation: In-session procedures for enhancing the working alliance and therapy effectiveness

Abstract

Abstract This article describes the importance and place of the working alliance in the process of family therapy. The authors contend that the development of the working alliance has become overshadowed by family therapists' attention to technique. The working alliance is identified as a construct central to successful family therapy regardless of the practitioner's theoretical orientation. Following the establishment of this perspective, the process and procedures of ongoing evaluation (OE) are described. The primary intent of OE is enhancing the working alliance.