The Couples Loyalty and the Therapeutic Alliance

The Couples Loyalty and the therapeutic Alliance

Garfield(2004) defines therapeutic alliance as a relation between the client and therapist. The relationship is meant to be an effective collaborative method. The therapeutic alliance includes; the emotional bond which is based on mutual trust, shared goals, and responsibilities within the couple's relationship (Garfield, 2004). The therapist alliance can also impact the loyalty dimensions of the couple's relationship.

Two principles I feel will be beneficial in my future work as an MFT are: The avoiding of loyalty conflicts and anticipating early family-related issues that may arise later in treatment.

Avoiding Loyalty Conflicts

At times problems may occur when giving individual therapy. This can occur when the therapist is unaware of how the therapeutic alliance is impacted outside of therapy (Robert, 2004). The decision to early terminate therapy by the couple, divorce, and arguments can be consequences if loyalty is affected during therapy (Garfield, 2004). In the future it is important that I remain focus on the couples overall relationship problems in treatment. Confidentiality is also a factor to consider when seeing couples individually during therapy. I have to remain confidential with certain aspects or statements I share with each client during an individual session. I can encourage the clients to openly talk to one another about certain things. I believe that clients who keep secrets from one another can cause disruptive loyalty amongst the therapeutic alliance.

Anticipating Early Family- Related Issues That Arise Later in Treatment

Before beginning any initial treatment family histories can help me discover any particular emotional issues that can/would have a barrier with the therapeutic alliance. If I take previous occurrences into account, this will allow me to respectfully approach situations within therapy. Progress in therapy can be more effective if I am able to address any barriers or strains that can occur amongst the therapeutic alliance (Garfield, 2004).

Enactment Process and Usefulness

According to Butler & Gardner (2003), the focus is on coaching the interaction within therapy as opposed to simply giving advice. The enactment process is used to help couples interact in a more satisfying way. During therapy the process should allow the clients to interact amongst one another without the therapist assistance (Butler & Gardner, 2003). My sister and her boyfriend have been together for seven years. They have called it "quits" a little over thirty times. Meaning, they have been together on and off for a while now. A lot of factors lead up to the inconsistent relationship. The infidelity leads to their trust issues which allowed verbal abuse amongst the two. Stage 3 of the enactment process is face-to-face talk. This process involves the therapist to focus on direct spouse to spouse interaction. I believe the enactment process can only be effective if the couple has an open mind and is willing to create better communication amongst each other. In order for the therapist

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