THE THERAPEUTIC ALLIANCE

Research Paper Requirements Objective: You will write a research paper that uses scholarly articles to address the topic questions below. Your paper should be written in APA format with 3-5 pages of text. It should also include a reference page, title page and abstract (the page count NOT to include those pages). Points Possible: This paper is worth 50 points. Due Date: Submit this assignment through the appropriate folder in the Dropbox area of D2L by midnight Central Time on Saturday of Week 7. Please note that you will not be able to submit your paper to the Dropbox until you have completed the Plagiarism Tutorial located in the Content area of the course. Completing the plagiairism quiz will not gain you folder access. Topic: The Therapeutic Alliance Using the Stafford Library resources, you should research professional/peer-reviewed journal articles. Then, choose at least one article to use (which has full text available), along with your textbook when answering at least 2 of the following questions: - 1. The psychological treatment field has traditionally espoused a broad belief in the use of specific, robust models and interventions (supported by past research) that are carefully matched to specific diagnoses or symptoms. This philosophy has tended to minimize other factors that also contribute to successful psychotherapy outcomes. What debates do you believe will ensue between traditional “believers” and those professionals subscribing to recently-emerging evidence that the collaborative, working relationship between client and clinician carries more weight in the outcome than specific models/interventions? - 2. Do you believe that the clinician-client relationship is critical to the outcome of therapy? State your position and your supporting rationale. - 3. Should clinicians abandon what have been traditionally thought of as very robust techniques/approaches and "wing it" in their client contacts? Include your rationale. - 4. What do you believe are the critical elements of forming these collaborative client relationships and why? - 5. The concept of “treatment matching” was a topic being discussed in the mental health field in the early 1990's, where a certain profile of client was thought to be more likely to be successful (in their therapy) if they were matched with a certain profile of clinician, prior to their first meeting. What do you think of that? Guidelines: - Use enough professional/peer-reviewed reference material to support your position. - Papers should be written using APA format and style standards. A link to a popular APA format and style guide is included under the Research Paper module in the Content area. - Do not use direct quotations on this paper. Paraphrase your sources to demonstrate your understanding of the material and cite these sources properly. Papers with direct quotations may be dropped a letter grade. Listing a source on the reference page is not sufficient to address proper citation of sources. In-text citations are required. Note: To paraphrase, you must put your source's material in your own words. Do not use material word-for-word from your sources without using quotation marks and citing them, otherwise this will be considered a form of plagiarism. - Papers should be double-spaced with 12-point font. Do NOT have any more than a double space at any point in the paper, such as between paragraphs or on either side of a heading. - Organization of the paper, as well as grammar, spelling and punctuation also will be considered in grading.