ABSTRACT
Research has documented that, if a patient feels accepted, understood, and liked by the therapist early in the relationship, therapy tends to be successful. The connection between positive relationship and positive outcome is what researchers call a robust finding and a 'pantheoretical' finding. Whether one practices behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, biofeedback, psychodynamic therapy, gestalt therapy, humanistic-experiential therapy, or family therapy, the warmth, trust, and positive feelings in the relationship between patient and therapist have been demonstrated to improve chances for success. As further intriguing and humbling testimony to the importance of relationship factors is the finding that people with little or no experience and training in psychotherapy. Research into building an alliance has repeatedly demonstrated some role played by the therapist's ability to show empathy, sincerity, and unconditional acceptance of the patient. Genuineness, also a precondition for positive alliance, likewise eludes rigid definition and likewise can be taken to excess.
