Date of Award

1-1-2010

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology

Program

Counseling Psychology

Content Description

1 online resource (x, 83 pages) : PDF file, illustrations (some color)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Myrna L Friedlander

Committee Members

Laurie Heatherington

Keywords

adolescence, communication, family therapy, interaction analysis, therapeutic alliance, Family psychotherapy, Adolescent psychotherapy, Therapist and patient, Communication in families

Subject Categories

Counseling Psychology

Abstract

The creation and maintenance of a strong therapeutic alliance is one of the most robust predictors of successful treatment for adult (Horvath & Bedi, 2002) and adolescent (Karver, Handelsman, Fields, & Bickman, 2006) clients across diverse therapy formats and presenting problems. However, research on the alliance with adolescents lags far behind research with adults, particularly in the context of family therapy. Because of the supported efficacy of family therapy for diverse adolescent problems (Shelef et al., 2005), the present study examined the association between observed therapist-adolescent alliances and relational control communication in the context of conjoint family therapy. Relational control refers to how people use language in order to influence others, reflecting the implicit hierarchical and relational structure of messages people exchange with one another (Rogers & Escudero, 2004).

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