ABSTRACT
An alliance rupture is a moment where the therapeutic relationship is under strain in some way. There is mounting agreement amongst therapists of all orientations that such ruptures are inevitable (Guistolise, 1996), and that learning how to identify and respond to such alliance ruptures are key skills for therapists (Safran and Muran, 2003). Transactional analysts pay attention to each transaction, and note both their own response to each transactional stimulus and the impact of their transactions upon their client and the therapeutic relationship. Analysis of transactions can suggest an alliance rupture, for example an unexpected, jarring crossed transaction may suggest the presence of a rupture (although do bear in mind much therapy is done when a therapist deliberately crosses transactions). If the therapist suspects a rupture, or experiences some strain in the relationship, naming the tension and openly exploring it begins the process of rupture repair. Inviting the client into exploring how he or she has experienced a particular intervention can reveal rich information regarding their process and way of experiencing the world and others. The therapist here needs to adopt a stance of curiosity into their own experience, and also enquiry into the client's experience and historical or phenomenological diagnosis of recurring patterns. In identifying and deliberately seeking to repair an alliance rupture, the therapist is acting differently from the expected re-enactment of the client's relational protocol. In some respects this is the equivalent of providing the therapeutically needed relationship and may act as an antidote to some of the more toxic introjects and relational script issues the client holds. The sensitive but frank manner in which the rupture is attended to, and the client's feelings empathized with, combined with the absence of defensive responses (blame, justify, defend, etc.) from the therapist may well be a deeply healing experience for the client.
