Relational Healing in Psychotherapy: Reaching Beyond the Research.

Therapeutic relationships with well-established alliances and favorable signs of therapist empathy and genuineness are strong predictors of successful psychotherapy. However, amassing the declarative knowledge associated with knowing that a constructive therapeutic relationship contributes to successful outcome is insufficient in preparing a clinician with the procedural knowledge leading to him or her knowing how to competently implement this. The present article strives to address this gap by definitionally and descriptively unpacking key aspects of alliance building, and therapist empathy and authenticity/genuineness, for pragmatic learning purposes. It is argued that a humanistic revival in the education and training of beginning psychotherapists is long overdue to enable them to acquire the self-expansion, relational versatility, and ethical sensibility necessary to optimally perform their clinical duties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]