Alliance ruptures and repairs in experiential therapy

Abstract

The formation and maintenance of a positive working alliance is fundamental to the success of experiential therapy. Experiential therapists face a special challenge insofar as they must constantly consider whether to direct the therapeutic process more actively or remain more closely within the clients' own frame of reference. This requires that experiential therapists be acutely aware of the alliance with their clients on a moment-to-moment basis during the session. In this article ruptures to the alliance, comprising breakdowns In the agreement between clients and therapists as to the goals and tasks of therapy during the early and middle phases of treatment, are identified and explored. As ruptures are often covert processes, methods of detecting their occurrence during the session are presented. Finally, experiential techniques for forging, maintaining, and repairing the alliance between clients and therapists are discussed and illustrated.

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