The Role of the Therapeutic Alliance in Psychotherapy - Essay Example

While at first, he believed that the relationship merely helped the client, in his later works he showed that it not only benefits the client in being able to share, but it also helps the therapist understand the patient, and more accurately assess their personality and needs.

Currently, the view of the therapeutic alliance is that as the relationship between the client and the therapist develops, the patient is able to transfer their feelings and thoughts, and frustrations to the therapist, which allows the patient to let go of what they are carrying. This is a far more successful therapy than merely sharing feelings with a complete stranger. While the alliance has been shown to be helpful during therapy, future work and study are still necessary to determine exactly how helpful the therapeutic alliance is, and when it is best used, and when it is best foregone.

Future studies will allow therapists to review and study the effect of the therapeutic relationship on the patient-therapist interaction, and the overall success of therapy.