It is called "the working alliance," and over the last decade this construct - created to define the subtle, interactive, ever-changing relationship between client and therapist - has emerged as the most important conceptualization of the common elements in the different therapy modalities.

Now, The Working Alliance: Theory, Research, and Practice offers clinical psychologists, counselors, psychiatrists, and clinical social workers a comprehensive, in-depth overview of the nature of this crucial collaborative relationship, and illuminates the ways in which it promotes positive therapeutic change.

The Working Alliance pulls together and examines the major research results, theoretical positions, and applications of the working alliance in contemporary clinical practice. It first outlines the basic aspects of the alliance concept, explaining how the development of the alliance provides the client with a safe haven to explore the self, how it may capture key past and present relational issues, and how it serves to integrate the relational and technical aspects of treatment.

The book next scrutinizes the research methodologies and data generated by each of the major alliance research groups. To enhance understanding, each author addresses four main issues: how the alliance is defined, measurement concerns, the relationship of the alliance to outcome, and how to influence the quality of the alliance in clinical practice.

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From here, The Working Alliance looks at a variety of theoretical perspectives, presenting and reviewing the cognitive position, the experiential perspective, and the family systemic view of the working alliance, with research results illustrating each approach. The coverage continues with an intensive analysis of the alliance process itself, exploring its moment-to-moment impact on psychodynamic therapy.

The volume ends with a summary of research findings relating to alliance processes and their impact on therapy outcome. Complete with a look ahead to potential research agendas and clinical issues, this major contribution to psychological theory and practice not only defines the cooperative nature of the alliance between the client in therapy or counseling and the client's therapist, but also presents a valuable working methodology for enhancing the process of therapeutic change.