ABSTRACT
The therapeutic relationship is different from any other type of relationship. Repeated studies have demonstrated that the most curative factor in psychotherapy is not the techniques the therapist uses, or their theoretical orientation, but the strength of the therapeutic relationship. A particular feature of the therapeutic relationship is the therapist's willingness to be ‘recruited’ by the client as a participant in the client's (transferential) drama. In transactional analysis terms, this means the therapist being willing to be stimulated into partially entering the client's games, so that these games can be understood and analysed and so the underlying script issues can be healed within the context of a relationship. Many therapists believe that it is the intensity of the therapeutic relationship which creates the necessary conditions for therapeutic change. Indeed, there is evidence that the intensity of the relationship encourages the growth of new neural patterns and ways of relating.
