Quality of working alliance in psychotherapy: therapist variables and patient/therapist similarity as predictors.

TLDR

The study explores therapist characteristics as predictors of working alliance, rated early and later by therapists and patients. The study involved 59 therapists and 270 patients in a multisite project, with alliance ratings collected at early and later stages. Patients and therapists had divergent perspectives on the working alliance; therapists’ experience, training, skill, and progress did not affect patient‑rated alliance, whereas training and skill were positively related to therapist‑rated alliance, and interpersonal relationships on the cold‑warm dimension moderately impacted both ratings, with implications for therapist training discussed.

Abstract

Therapist characteristics were explored as possible predictors of working alliance, rated early and later in therapy both by therapists (n=59) and patients (n=270) in an ongoing multisite project on process and outcome of psychotherapy. Patients and therapists had divergent perspectives on the working alliance. Therapists' experience, training, skill, and progress as therapists did not have any significant impact on alliance as rated by patients. Training and skill were positively related to alliance as rated by therapists. Interpersonal relationships on the cold-warm dimension had a moderate impact for both patients' and therapists' alliance ratings. Some implications for therapist training are discussed.