Therapeutic Alliance is very important it begins from the initial meeting with the client and continues throughout. Therapeutic alliance is conceptualized as the emotional and collaborative relationship between a client and therapist and is described as a “non-specific” factor due to its application across treatments (Bordin, 1979). During each session with a client the expectation is to assist the client through guidance and reflecting the understanding of their problem and the best way to solve them. An alliance exists when both the therapist and client develop a level of trust and feel comfortable working together. Also, Bordin (1979) hypothesized that a strong alliance was the result of three major tasks in therapy: first, the therapist’s and the client’s ability to agree upon the goals of therapy; second, the individual tasks that constitute therapy; and third, the bond between the therapist and the client.
Establishing a therapeutic alliance with individuals who are at risk can be very challenging as there may be several
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During my initial interaction with the client, in order to build a therapeutic alliance, client’s concern is explored. By facilitating an atmosphere of trust and offering a sense of hope encourages the engagement which forms the basis of a good therapeutic alliance. Strengths and empowerment are emphasized during the session by use of various communication skills such as probing, active listening by use of appropriate posture, eye contact and facial expression, paraphrasing, reflective feeling, and positive reinforcements. I was also able to demonstrate openness and maintained an empathic response, which was useful in establishing rapport with