Today’s Solutions: November 02, 2024

Investing in therapy sessions is an important step for many to protect and improve their mental health. There are plenty of different methods and styles of therapy, but when choosing the right therapist for you, research shows that developing a strong therapeutic alliance is a more revealing predictor of therapeutic success in high-functioning people than the therapeutic approach being used.

What is a therapeutic alliance?

The therapeutic alliance is made up of the shared goals for treatment held by the therapist and the client, a mutual belief in each other’s ability to use therapy sessions to achieve these goals and the harmony or rapport between therapist and client.

The 3 ingredients needed to form a therapeutic alliance:
Mutual goals

You and your therapist should agree that your therapy goals are healthy and desirable. For example, if you are seeking stress management skills so that you can learn to deal with the demands of graduate school and full-time work, it is important that your therapist agrees to partner with you to achieve these goals.

If instead, you find that rather than working with you to reach your goals, your therapist wants you to “learn to sit with failure,” or to “drop unreasonable expectations,” then perhaps it would be more beneficial for you to seek out a therapist who is willing to recognize your potential and will encourage you to strive toward it.

Mutual belief in each other’s ability to achieve these goals

Once you confirm with your therapist that you are both on board with the goals you set for yourself, it is important that you feel that your therapist believes in your capacity to accomplish these goals and that you trust in your therapist’s competence to nudge you in the right direction.

While selecting a therapist, remind yourself to assess potential therapists’ skills, grit, intelligence, self-awareness, and whatever other qualities you would appreciate in their practice.

Rapport

Now, if you’ve determined that your therapist is able to adequately fulfill the first two requirements listed above, the last factor to assess is whether you feel a strong rapport, or compatibility, between the two of you (unless you know you may have issues forming rapport in general, even outside of the therapy room).

Not being able to form a natural rapport between client and therapist isn’t necessarily anyone’s fault, but it is important to acknowledge if you think that a different therapist may be a better fit for you. Of course, a new therapist should be given ample opportunity to develop this rapport as sessions are often more awkward initially. However, if you think that it may be time to start shopping around for another therapist, don’t be afraid to trust your gut.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

This heartwarming Danish ad breaks down the ‘Us vs Them’ narrative

It’s rare that we publish a story about an advertisement, but then again it’s rare that an ad stirs so much emotion within its ...

Read More

NOAHs: Charlotte has a formula for long-lasting affordable housing

We recently shared how empty retail space could be the solution to California’s affordable housing crisis. Across the country in North Carolina, the city ...

Read More

A seat at the table for underrepresented communities

Climate change is already affecting all of us—however, those that bear the brunt of these consequences are predominantly from low-income, marginalized, BIPOC communities. So ...

Read More

Expanding democracy: Michigan opens new doors for formerly incarcerated voters

Malijah Gee's path from incarceration at the age of 17 to imminent freedom reflects the longing for a voice that has been suppressed for 36 years. ...

Read More