ABSTRACT
The therapeutic alliance is of vital importance for successful psychotherapy. A good alliance means that the therapist and patient agree on the goals and tasks of therapy and develop an affective bond in which the patient works purposefully and the therapist shows empathic understanding and involvement (Bordin, 1979). A strong alliance does not mean, as Garfield (1995) pointed out, “comfort, sociability and enjoyment of the relationship” (p. 49). On the contrary, patients in a good alliance may be able to express more negative emotion.
