ABSTRACT
In addition to providing information, the process of assessment also serves as a way for the psychologist, the child, the parents and members of the network to build a working alliance. Building a strong working alliance with the child and key members of the child’s family and network is essential for valid assessment and effective therapy. All other features of the consultation process should be subordinate to the working alliance, since without it clients drop out of assessment and therapy or fail to make progress. The only exception to this rule is where the safety of the child or family member is at risk, when protection takes priority over alliance building. Research on common factors that contribute to a positive therapeutic outcome and ethical principles of good practice point to a number of guidelines which psychologists should employ in developing a working alliance (Carr, 2000a, 2002a; Fonagy et al., 2002; Kazdin & Weisz, 2003; Lambert, 2003; Sprenkle, 2002):
• When communicating with the child, parents and network members, the psychologist’s communication style should be characterized by warmth, empathy and genuineness.
