The Therapeutic Relationship is Essential

“The development of a therapeutic relationship is essential “because clinical evidence suggests that the relationship is one of the largest and most consistent factors predicting [a] successful outcome of counseling” (Leibert et al., 2006, p. 70). Freud was one of the first to identify that the relationship between the counselor and the client was more important than the actual therapy process (Fluckiger et al., 2018). Carl Rogers had a positive influence on the concept of alliance with the ideas of empathy, unconditional positive regard, and being genuine with the client (Fluckiger et al., 2018). The therapeutic alliance consists of the counselor and the client forming a bond that helps accomplish the treatment goals. Clients and counselors tend to view the therapeutic alliance differently, so the counselor must evaluate the status of the differing perceptions throughout the counseling process (Bedi, 2006). Tsai et al. (2019) state that “attachment security” is the therapist exhibiting supportive behaviors to the client (p. 56). These supporting behaviors show the client that the counselor is committed to the counseling process and has their best interests in mind.”

Reference

Todd, S. M., Mikolon, T. M., & Perez, D. M. (2021). Synchronous Online Counseling and Supervision in the 21st Century.