The Core of Effective Therapy: The Crucial Role of the Therapist-Client Bond
Anna Ballon
PhD, MSc, MACP (Qualifying), BSc. (OT)
Therapy is effective, transformative, and sometimes hard! No matter what therapy you choose to participate in, there are “common factors” in all therapies which account for much of the change experienced by clients. Common factors refer to the components of therapy that are the same no matter what techniques or modalities your therapist uses. For example, narrative therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, and Adlerian therapies are very different; however, they have at least one common factor that makes these therapies effective.
The most important common factor is the therapist-client bond. No therapy will be effective without a collaborative client-therapist relationship. While this seems obvious, literature suggests that there are qualities that are foundational to this special relationship. The therapeutic bond is particularly important with clients who experienced trauma because trauma can shatter a person’s trust in society and the world around them. Hence, demonstrating compassion, positive regard, physical and psychological safety are essential to the therapy process. The unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuineness for the client, by the therapist, is healing and counters the client’s negative life experiences. An important condition is that the client must believe that the therapist’s empathy is genuine. This is not because of one action or experience, rather it is a process that begins with understanding of the client’s internal world through multiple conversations and inquisitive inquiry to identify the experienced trauma, intersectionality of the client’s cultures, worldviews, and social injustices that they have experienced.
At Healthy Minds Psychotherapy we use a variety of modalities based on the unique needs of our clients; nevertheless, we will be always paying attention to the client-therapist bond to ensure that you feel valued and heard in your psychotherapy journey with us.
Ready to experience the transformative power of a strong therapeutic relationship? Contact Healthy Minds Psychotherapy today to begin your journey towards healing and growth: https://aws-portal.owlpractice.ca/healthymindspsychotherapy
[Word Count: 283]
Behan, D. (2022). Do clients train therapists to become eclectic and use the common factors? A qualitative study listening to experienced psychotherapists. BMC Psychology, 10, 1–13.
ProQuest Central. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00886-6 Collins, S. (2018). Culturally responsive and socially just counselling: Teaching and learning guide. Faculty of Health Sciences Open Text Books. https://pressbooks.pub/crsjguide/
Wedding, D., & Corsini, R. J. (2019). Current psychotherapies (11th ed.). Cengage Learning Inc.