Therapist and Client Attachment and its Relationship with Therapeutic Alliance

This article reviews the results of a study on the development of the therapeutic alliance (TA) along the psychotherapeutic process and its relationship with therapists 'and clients' attachment styles. TA was evaluated in the 1st, 3rd, and 10th or last session through the "Inventario de Alianza Terapeutica" (IAT), attachment was measured by the Adult Attachment Scale. Twenty five therapists participated, 19 senior psychology students and 6 professional psychologists with 1 to 4 years of clinical experience. The study was initiated with 50 adult people, for the 3rd session there were 30 cases, and for the last one, 15. Secure attachment of the therapist and the client associated with better TA as evaluated by the therapist. Later on, intimacy and trustfulness in the therapeutic procedures improved the TA.