3 ms·

>The emotional bond and the collaboration between client and therapist – called the alliance – have emerged as a strong predictor of improvement, even in therap

>The emotional bond and the collaboration between client and therapist – called the alliance – have emerged as a strong predictor of improvement, even in therapies that don’t emphasise relational factors. Yeah, OK, I might buy that as much as I might buy any result associated with something as nebulous as psychotherapy. How do they characterize this, exactly? Having good feelings about a therapist you got better from ... you probably have better feelings about a podiatrist associated with fixing your foot pain than the one who didn't as well. That doesn't mean your feelings are causal of your foot getting better. In fact the podiatrist (or therapist) might not have done anything real either; sometimes you just get better.

woodandsteel 6y ago
As the article makes clear, it is not just general good feelings, but the specific, back-and-forth interactions between the therapist and the patient.
- scottlocklin 6y ago
  That's great: how are these specific interactions measured? Without that being something actually measurable in the corporeal world, it's just gibberish and assertions.
  - woodandsteel 6y ago
    Very detailed observation, in particular using video tapes.
    - scottlocklin 6y ago
      That's not a helpful answer. What's the scoring system? What are the visual cues used, and how is it used in a linear regression model? The article is making strong claims: it never tells us what the data are, and how they differ from "well that's just your opinion, man."
      - woodandsteel 6y ago
        The reason that the article doesn't go into that sort of thing is it was written for the general public. I am not expert in this area. I do know that over the years I have read a great many articles for the general public that refer to scientific study of infant-mother interaction. If you are seriously interested, do some research and read up about it. Let me add that, I do understand that people in the therapy field often make claims that are unsupported by scientific research, and so I can understand that you are suspicious in this case. But this field is different, there is lots of sound research.
        scottlocklin 6y ago
        >I am not expert in this area > But this field is different, there is lots of sound research. Come on man: pick one. I read the article as you did, and it seems like a big pile of moosh, just as most things in psychology that don't involve large sums of money. If you know something about it: share why I should trust this shit other than "trust me, the non expert." If not; not saying anything is an option.
      - elzapatista 6y ago
        Trauma therapist-in-training here... There has been an increasing amount of research in recent years on the importance of the “therapeutic alliance” - Bruce Wampold has done a lot of work around this topic. There are also assessment tools that have been developed to help measure the strength of the therapeutic relationship, for example the “Working Alliance Inventory.” Measures like this may look at consensus among treatment goals; sense of confidence in the therapist; commitment to the work/relationship; mutual trust; actually liking of one another, etc. Not sure what type of measure or specific research was relied upon for the article (in fact I didn’t read it, was more interested in reading peoples’ comments actually), but hope that helps!

woodandsteel 6y ago

As the article makes clear, it is not just general good feelings, but the specific, back-and-forth interactions between the therapist and the patient.

scottlocklin 6y ago
That's great: how are these specific interactions measured? Without that being something actually measurable in the corporeal world, it's just gibberish and assertions.
- woodandsteel 6y ago
  Very detailed observation, in particular using video tapes.
  - scottlocklin 6y ago
    That's not a helpful answer. What's the scoring system? What are the visual cues used, and how is it used in a linear regression model? The article is making strong claims: it never tells us what the data are, and how they differ from "well that's just your opinion, man."
    - woodandsteel 6y ago
      The reason that the article doesn't go into that sort of thing is it was written for the general public. I am not expert in this area. I do know that over the years I have read a great many articles for the general public that refer to scientific study of infant-mother interaction. If you are seriously interested, do some research and read up about it. Let me add that, I do understand that people in the therapy field often make claims that are unsupported by scientific research, and so I can understand that you are suspicious in this case. But this field is different, there is lots of sound research.
      - scottlocklin 6y ago
        >I am not expert in this area > But this field is different, there is lots of sound research. Come on man: pick one. I read the article as you did, and it seems like a big pile of moosh, just as most things in psychology that don't involve large sums of money. If you know something about it: share why I should trust this shit other than "trust me, the non expert." If not; not saying anything is an option.
    - elzapatista 6y ago
      Trauma therapist-in-training here... There has been an increasing amount of research in recent years on the importance of the “therapeutic alliance” - Bruce Wampold has done a lot of work around this topic. There are also assessment tools that have been developed to help measure the strength of the therapeutic relationship, for example the “Working Alliance Inventory.” Measures like this may look at consensus among treatment goals; sense of confidence in the therapist; commitment to the work/relationship; mutual trust; actually liking of one another, etc. Not sure what type of measure or specific research was relied upon for the article (in fact I didn’t read it, was more interested in reading peoples’ comments actually), but hope that helps!