Development and characteristics of the Therapeutic Alliance in a short term dynamic psychotherapy: a descriptive case study

Despite the long tradition in psychotherapy research literature concerning the role of therapeutic alliance (TA), both in terms of process and outcome in clinical intervention, little is known about its specific characteristics in short term dynamic psychotherapy (STDP). Accordingly, the main aim of the present work is to focus on the formal features of TA in a good outcome STDP. We applied the Collaborative Interaction Scale (Colli & Lingiardi, 2009) to verbatim transcripts in order to track macro and micro evolution of TA while considering the interplay of both therapist and patient contributions. Data were analyzed in terms of TA general trend, TA climate onset and high impact session TA characteristics. Results sustain the STDP theory of technique (Davanloo, 1990) concerning the general process, the onset features and patient therapist interplay from a TA perspective.