ABSTRACT
For psychoanalysis, and other methods of treatment as well, the assessment of the capacity to develop a treatment alliance is important when a decision has to be made about the appropriate form of treatment. The fact that Freud used the term 'transference' for the 'friendly rapport' as well as for transference has led to some confusion in the subsequent literature, with some authors still using the term 'positive transference' incorrectly to designate the treatment alliance. Occasionally, irrational motives may assist the development of a treatment alliance. The treatment alliance is not only a function of the patient, as the skill of the individual analyst must play an important role in its development. The concept of the treatment alliance appears to be readily capable of being extended outside psychoanalysis without substantial modification, although it is true that different clinical 'contracts' (to use Menninger's term) exist in different clinical situations.
