Why is the bond with the psychologist so important?

These are the aspects of the therapeutic relationship that most influence the patient's progress.

Many people believe that going to psychotherapy is, basically, to unburden oneself by explaining all one's sorrows, having at one's side a professional trained to know how to listen to and understand the person seeking help. Others, on the contrary, believe that psychological therapy is a place where one goes to receive advice, to be filled with knowledge about what to do and what to think based on what the therapist says.

The truth is that both perspectives are wrong. The work of psychologists is neither to be passive recipients of all the opinions and feelings expressed by the patient, nor constant transmitters of information that the patient must memorize and internalize.

The key to the therapist's role lies in the balance between listening and communicating, and on the other hand, therapy is not a process of unilateral emission of information, but a context in which two people contribute equally and adapt to what the other says and does. That is why, a good part of the psychologist's work consists in establishing a therapeutic bond.Let's see what it consists of.

What is the therapeutic bond established with the psychologist?

The therapeutic bond is the set of patterns of communication and expression of emotions that occurs as a constant exchange of information (verbal and nonverbal) between the therapist and patientin the context of a professional relationship. Thus, it is a process that goes beyond the logic of the internal psychological processes of each of these people separately.

It is one of the necessary elements for any psychological treatment or psychodiagnostic phase to be successful. Let's see why.

What is the purpose of creating a correct therapeutic bond?

These are the main aspects of psychological therapy that are influenced by the quality of the therapeutic bond between the psychologist and the patient.

1. It facilitates the patient to open up and be honest about his or her vulnerabilities.

When the therapeutic bond has been established in the right way, the patient feels that he/she can express him/herself openly and even talk about his/her own characteristics that he/she considers to be imperfections.This is necessary for the professional to come to an understanding of the problem that has led the person to seek help in his or her office. The fact of being able to go to a psychotherapy center and not feeling prejudiced makes all the difference.

2. It makes the patient see the therapist's involvement.

Although the psychologist's role is that of a professional, there is also room for empathy and involvement in improving the patient's well-being. In the therapeutic bond, this interest in helping those who come to therapy is clearly expressed, and this provides patients with an extra source of motivation to continue making progress. patients have an extra source of motivation to continue progressing and committing themselves to what is proposed. and committing themselves to what the professional proposes.

3. It is a source of self-knowledge

As psychotherapy sessions become both cognitively and emotionally stimulating activities, patients are able to learn more about themselves, patients are able to learn about themselves by looking at what they feel and what they think during these meetings with the psychologist.. And the therapist, in turn, adapts to the situation in real time to help the other person take advantage of these processes of self-knowledge by asking the right questions at key moments, detecting issues worth exploring in more depth, etc.

4. Reduces the risk of interrupting therapy.

Another key aspect of a correct therapeutic bond is that it leads patients to feel a genuine interest in completing the psychotherapy process by resisting those situations that would otherwise lead them to throw in the towel prematurely.

5. Helps to see progress

The therapeutic bond is reflected in the joint satisfaction of seeing how the patient is achieving the goals established in the different phases of psychotherapy.. This allows to learn quickly about what works and what does not work so well.

Are you interested in psychotherapeutic support?

If you are currently seeking psychotherapy services, we invite you to contact us. At Psicotools we offer psychological assistance both online by video call and in person at our center located in Barcelona (in the district of Gràcia), and we have many years of experience offering therapy for problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, low self-esteem, work stress, trauma, poor impulse management, and more.

Bibliographical references:

• Casella, S.M. (2015). Therapeutic rapport: the forgotten intervention. Journal of emergency nursing, 41(3): pp. 252 - 154.
• Norfolk T., Birdi K., Patterson F. (2009). Developing therapeutic rapport: a training validation study. Quality in Primary Care, 17: pp. 99 - 106.
• Rogers, D. (2015). Further Validation of the Learning Alliance Inventory: The Roles of Working Alliance, Rapport, and Immediacy in Student Learning. Teaching of Psychology, 42(1): pp. 19 - 25.
• Wierzbicki, M.; Pekarik, G. (1993). A meta-analysis of psychotherapy dropout. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24(2): pp. 190 - 195.