Measuring the therapeutic alliance between neuropsychologists and patients they are assessing

What is it about?

There is a great deal of evidence that the therapeutic alliance--the collaborative agreement between patients and therapists on therapy tasks and goals and the presence of an interpersonal bond--is important in therapy, but there has been little research on the role of the alliance in neuropsychological assessments. In this study, a commonly used self-report measure of the alliance was adapted for the neuropsychological assessment setting and piloted with a group of neuropsychologists. While more research is needed to improve the measure, these preliminary findings suggest that clinicians who are familiar with the concept of the alliance report experiencing stronger alliances with their assessment patients and spending more time in assessment.

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Why is it important?

The findings suggest that educating neuropsychologists about the alliance might positively influence their work with patients.

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