ABSTRACT
The influence of the therapist-dient relationship on the outcome of psychotherapy is one of the oldest themes in therapy research. As early as 1913, Freud explored the differ ence between the neurotic aspects of the client’s attachment to the analyst (transference) and the friendly and positive feelings that the analysand has toward the therapist. He felt that the positive, reality-based component of the relationship provided the basis for a therapeutic partnership against the common foe, the client’s neurosis (Freud, 1958). The interest in the impact of the positive alliance between client and therapist was maintained through the writings of Sterba (1934), Zetzel (1956), and Gittleson (1962). The term working alliance was first used by Greenson (1967), who saw the positive collaboration between client and therapist as one of the essential components for success in therapy.
