ABSTRACT
The importance of establishing a therapeutic alliance is widely recognized as fundamental to successful psychotherapy, not only for psychodynamic therapies but for all treatment modalities. The helping alliance is a term for a number of obviously related phenomena converging on the degree to which the patient’s relationship with the therapist is deemed helpful for the achievement of treatment goals. The development of a positive therapeutic alliance requires the participation of both parties to the interaction. Therapy is a bi-personal model. If no positive alliance has come about, the treatment is unlikely to be successful. If there are disruptions to the therapeutic relationship, the most effective technique is to focus on now rather than the repetition of a particular aspect of behaviour. Technique for preparing the patient for therapy has to be adjusted for each individual case. In earlier times the exchange of letters probably assumed this function. Today email exchanges provide a speedier version of that function.
