Constructing the therapeutic alliance in couple therapy: An illustrative case study with therapeutic management difficulties

Resum

The purpose of this study is to learn how the therapeutic alliance is constructedand modulated in a case of couple therapy that presented different indicatorsof difficulties in the therapeutic management. With the support of theSystem for Observing Family Therapy Alliances (SOFTA-o) the evolution offour dimensions of the therapeutic alliance was analyzed (Engagement in theTherapeutic Process, Emotional Connection with the Therapist, Safety withinthe Therapeutic System, and Shared Sense of Purpose within the Family) in thefirst, third and sixth sessions. The results showed how out of the four dimensionsthat the SOFTA-o measures, the Safety within the Therapeutic System, and SharedSense of Purpose within the Family dimensions were the ones that better expressedthe difficulties of building a satisfactory therapeutic alliance in the initial phasesof treatment and resulted to be the two most discriminative dimensions to considerviability and prognosis of the treatment. In conclusion, this study has allowedanalyzing in detail how the therapeutic alliance is built in a couple therapy casethroughout the psychotherapeutic process.