ABSTRACT
Guided by the structural model, a therapist might well construe his task to be the analysis of defense, leading to the exposure and resolution of these many conflicts. The concept of the therapeutic alliance or the working alliance has come to stand in general terms for the cooperative nontransference relationship between patient and therapist. The therapeutic, or working, alliance as it was originally conceptualized is a perversion of the therapeutic relationship and provides a theoretical basis for the therapist who is having difficulty understanding what is happening with his patient to shift his efforts from analysis of the patient’s material to manipulation of the relationship. Yet, in order for the treatment situation to have the emotional impact necessary to foster the development of an analyzable transference, the therapist must communicate his presence as an integral part of what he communicates through his functioning.
