What is therapeutic alliance?
Therapeutic alliance is all about the relationship that you form with your therapist. It is about how you connect with one another, how you engage with one another, and how strong of a bond you develop together.
Why is therapeutic alliance important?
This relationship is so important because of the nature of the information you are sharing with your therapist. The more you connect with your therapist and trust them, the more you can be open with them, allowing you to learn and grow from your sessions. If you are not able to be open with your therapist, this may mean that you do not have a strong therapeutic alliance and they may not be the best fit for you.
How is therapeutic alliance measured?
Through progress measurement, clients and therapists can take a look at the progression of their therapeutic relationship over a series of questionnaires and measurement scores. This allows you space to determine where your relationship is strong with your therapist, and where it may need some work. It also allows you to determine if this therapeutic relationship is working for you or if you may need another therapist match.
You can also measure therapeutic alliance without using progress measurement tools. Alternatively, you can reflect on your relationship with your therapist and provide them with verbal feedback on what is working for you and what is not working to begin to form a stronger bond that makes sense for you and your therapeutic journey.
The above is a sample question from the therapeutic alliance measure (BR-WAI) that is commonly used on Greenspace.