The therapeutic relationship: Implications from social cognition and transference

Numerous studies have demonstrated that the therapeutic alliance that develops early in treatment predicts psychotherapeutic outcome (see Martin, Garske, & Davis, 2000). There remains limited research, however, on what factors in¯uence the therapeutic alliance. Although we have not focused on therapeutic processes per se in our own research, we have focused on psychological processes in everyday interpersonal relations thought central to psychotherapy. In some form or another, classical theories have long suggested that the mental representations an individual holds about signi®cant others are often in¯uential in psychotherapy and that this may either facilitate or impede progress. Considering the process of transference may be helpful to understanding the formation of a therapeutic alliance.