Abstract

The therapeutic alliance is a core element of successful treatment in therapy. Recent literature has explored variables that predict the alliance at various time points during therapy, but few studies have explored how the alliance develops over time and the factors that influence its rate of change. The current study addresses these questions by estimating latent growth-curve models to analyze how male and female partners' alliance scores develop over time and how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) impact the development of the alliance during the first six sessions of therapy. Results from these analyses show that neither men nor women's ACEs had a significant effect on the rate of change in the alliance. A discussion of the attachment implications of these findings, as well as the limitations of this study and potential directions for future research are then presented.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Family Life

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2020-07-29

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd11342

Keywords

Therapeutic alliance, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), growth-curve modeling, couple therapy

Language

english

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