Therapeutic relationship, attachment and therapeutic process: an empirical study

The current interest in the study of patient-therapist relationship has led to investigate its various components, such as patient-therapist attachment, therapeutic alliance, transference, countertransference, etc. (Norcross, 2002; Daniel, 2006; Lingiardi, De Bei, 2007). However, the dialogue between these constructs has been theorized for the most part at a conceptual level, and remains largely unexplored at the empirical one. Aim of this study is to bridge this gap exploring the relation among: 1) quality of patient-therapist attachment (by means of a new instrument, the Patient Therapist Attachment Q-sort; De Bei, Lingiardi, Miccoli, 2007); 2) dimensions of therapeutic alliance (using the Working Alliance Inventory, Horvath, 1982), and 3) characteristics of the therapeutic process (using the Psychotherapy Process Q-set, Jones, 2000) on a sample of 30 sessions of 4 psychodynamic-oriented psychotherapies.