ABSTRACT
Some psychotherapy practitioners and theoreticians be lieve that the relationship that develops between therapist and client is the essence of effective treatment. Others believe that although the relationship is not the sine qua non of therapy, it provides significant leverage for the imple mentation of therapy techniques. Regardless of one’s posi tion on whether the relationship is the essential ingredient of therapy or a means to an end, there is striking agreement that the client-therapist relationship plays an important role in treatment (Gelso & Carter, 1985; Highlen & Hill, 1984). Despite the stature given to the relationship in virtually all systems of psychotherapy, a surprising dearth of literature exists on the definition and essential components of this relationship.
