ABSTRACT
The quality of the therapeutic alliance is a robust predictor of therapy outcome and includes variables such as the life histories, personalities, and attachment styles of infant, parents, and therapist. Therapists who communicate their intentions clearly and empathically to frightened infants, by, for example, tone and touch, contribute to the infants developing trust in the therapeutic alliance. In psychotherapy research, one of the most consistent findings for the success of therapy and more positive therapy outcomes is the quality of the alliance, particularly if parents have strong experiences of a developing positive alliance in the first session or soon after. Exquisite sensitivity to how a family wishes to heal is needed to guide how the alliance is shaped. Most parents want this kind of intervention, which underpins a therapeutic alliance. Parents may have complex transferences and therapeutic alliances.
