Behavioral Working Alliance

Description of Strategy

A good working alliance sets the stage for effective cognitive-behavioral therapy. Without it, it is unlikely that clients will cooperate with therapy assignments or even continue in treatment. Thus, it is as important for therapists to establish a collaborative working alliance with their clients as it is for them to know cognitivebehavioral change techniques. Perhaps the most widely accepted definition is Bordin's pantheoretical conceptualization of the working alliance as clienttherapist agreement on the goals of therapy and the tasks to be performed to reach those goals coupled with a strong relational bond. This definition is a good fit for cognitive-behavioral therapists, because our theoretical orientation is goaland task oriented, with an emphasis on close client-therapist collaboration.

Establishing a working alliance ...