ALLIANCE RUPTURES AND REPAIRS IN EXPERIENTIAL THERAPY

The formation and maintenance of a positive working alliance is fundam ental to the success of experiential therapy. Experiential therapists face a special challenge insofar as they must constantly consider whet her to direct the therapeutic process more actively or remain more clo sely within the clients' own frame of reference. This requires that ex periential therapists be acutely aware of the alliance with their clie nts on a moment-to-moment basis during the session. In this article ru ptures to the alliance, comprising breakdowns in the agreement between clients and therapists as to the goals and tasks of therapy during th e early and middle phases of treatment, are identified and explored. A s ruptures are often covert processes, during the session are presente d. Finally, experiential techniques for forging, maintaining, and repa iring the alliance between clients and therapists are discussed and il lustrated. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.