Empathy has long been regarded as central to therapeutic effectiveness. Carl Rogers described “accurate empathic understanding” as one of the core conditions for change. Contemporary outcome research supports that claim. Large meta-analyses consistently show that therapist empathy is a significant predictor of treatment outcome across modalities and client groups (Elliott et al., 2011; 2018). Importantly, it is the client’s experience of being understood — not the therapist’s

A trusting therapeutic relationship and outcome-oriented collaboration between therapist and patient are critical for the successful...

Historically we have always been very fixated on modality-or type of therapy- and have always assumed that this is responsible for...

Relationships in and of themselves make a huge difference to treatment outcomes. The American Psychological Association have just...

I discuss the role of emotions in change and treatment outcomes. Particularly the importance of naming emotions in the here and now in...

I get asked about the issue of self-disclosure a lot in training. It is one of those difficult grey areas where people are never sure of...

The Therapeutic Alliance has always been found to be the central driver of outcomes in treatment studies, regardless of modality. But is...

Anyone who has heard me speak on treatment outcomes will know of my proclivity to stress the importance of alliance in treatment...