Therapeutic alliance in health contexts and in illness processes
a review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57167/Rev-SBPH.2025.v28.543Keywords:
Therapeutic alliance, Health, Health care services, Hospital psychologyAbstract
The therapeutic alliance is already established as an important factor in the psychotherapeutic process in clinical psychology, and studies point out that it can be an important factor in other contexts, such as health services. This article aims to show a scoping review of what has been produced regarding the alliance within the health area and what the main characteristics of these studies are. This study included 10 articles, and data suggest that the therapeutic alliance is a mediating element in the outcomes of clinical conditions. Most of them pointed out that it is possible to establish an alliance and that there is a positive relationship between the strength of the alliance and important results for good health maintenance, such as decreased pain, reduced fatigue, and lower levels of distress. Some variables that influence the alliance were also discussed, including anger and perception of injustice, general and specific treatment mechanisms, and the influence of the patient's past treatment history. Therefore, there is a growing interest in the study of the therapeutic alliance in health contexts. The variability of the methodologies applied in the studies limits some conclusions. It is also clear that there is a need for further investigation regarding alliance measurement instruments that are really adapted and validated for this context.
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