ABSTRACT
The correlation between the quality of the therapeutic alliance and treatment outcome is approximately 0.26, which corresponds to a moderate effect size. The pattern of patient participation and the degree of patient therapeutic engagement in the first three therapy sessions is predictive of treatment outcome. Patients with weaker therapeutic alliance scores are more likely to drop out of psychotherapy. The relationship between the quality and nature of the therapeutic alliance and the treatment outcomes is further strengthened when psychotherapists assess and employ ongoing real-time patient feedback. The role of the therapeutic alliance in impacting treatment outcome has been demonstrated with diverse clinical populations. The therapeutic alliance has come to be defined as the extent to which the patient and the psychotherapist jointly agree on the goals of treatment and the means or tasks by which to achieve these goals and the quality of the affective bond that develops between them.
