Therapist Characteristics and Interventions: Enhancing Alliance and Involvement with Youth

Abstract

This chapter reviews the empirical literature on factors that might influence the development and maintenance of the alliance and client involvement in youth therapy. Thus, our review of the literature is conducted through the lens of the evidence-based practice movement, which emphasizes the importance of tailoring the delivery of evidence-based treatments to individual clients. We present a conceptual model designed to explain how therapy produces change in youth, focusing on process and outcome through therapeutic interventions hypothesized to strengthen the alliance and maximize client involvement Then we use the model as a framework for reviewing the empirical evidence demonstrating that therapist characteristics, therapeutic interventions, and therapist competence influence the therapist–client alliance and client involvement. The chapter concludes with clinical implications and suggested future research directions.