Why is the link with the psychologist so important?

Many people believe that going to psychotherapy is, basically, venting by explaining all the sorrows that you experience. weigh, having by the side a professional trained to know how to listen and understand the person who is looking for help. Others, on the contrary, believe that psychological therapy is a place to which one is to receive advice, to fill yourself with knowledge about what to do and what to think from what the therapist.

The truth is that both perspectives are wrong. It is not the job of psychologists to be passive recipients of all opinions and feelings. expressed by the patient, nor constant transmitters of information that the patient must memorize and internalize.

The key to the role of the therapist is in the balance between listening and communicating, and on the other hand, therapy is not a process of emission of unilateral information, but a context in which two people contribute equally and adapt to what the other says and does. So, much of the psychologist's job is to establish a therapeutic bond; Let's see what it consists of.

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What is the therapeutic link established with the psychologist?

The therapeutic link is the set of patterns of communication and expression of emotions that occurs as a constant exchange of information (verbal and non-verbal) between the therapist and the patient, in a context of professional relationship. Thus, it is a process that goes beyond the logic of the internal psychological processes of each of these people separately.

It is one of the necessary elements for any psychological treatment or psychodiagnostic phase to come to fruition. Let's see why.

What is the use of creating a correct therapeutic bond?

These are the main aspects of psychological therapy that are influenced by the quality of the therapeutic bond between the psychologist and the patient.

1. Makes it easy for the patient to open up and be honest about their vulnerabilities

When the therapeutic link has been established in a correct way, the patient feels that he can express himself openly and even talk about his own characteristics that he considers imperfections, something necessary for the professional to understand the problem that has led that person to seek help in consulting her. Being able to go to a psychotherapy center and not feel prejudged makes all the difference.

2. Makes the patient see the therapist's involvement

Although the role of the psychologist is that of a professional, in his work there is also room for empathy and involvement in improving the well-being of the patient. In the therapeutic bond, this interest in helping those who go to therapy is clearly reflected, and this gives patients an extra source of motivation to continue progressing and committing to what the professional proposes.

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3. It is a source of self-knowledge

As psychotherapy sessions become both cognitively and emotionally stimulating activities, patients are able to learn about themselves by noticing what they feel and what they think during these meetings with the psychologist. And the therapist, in turn, adapts to the situation in real time to encourage the other person to take advantage of these processes of self-knowledge by asking the right questions at key moments, detecting topics that are worth exploring in more depth, etc.

4. Lowers the risk of stopping therapy

Another key aspect of a correct therapeutic bond is that it leads patients to feel a genuine interest in completing the psychotherapy process resisting those situations that in other situations would lead them to throw in the towel before weather.

5. Helps to see progress

In the therapeutic bond, joint satisfaction is reflected in seeing how the patient is achieving the goals established in the different phases of psychotherapy. This allows you to quickly learn about what works and what doesn't work as much.

Are you interested in having psychotherapeutic support?

If you are currently looking for psychotherapy services, we invite you to contact us. On Psychotools We offer psychological assistance both online by video call and in person at our center located in Barcelona (in the Gràcia district), and we have many years of experience offering therapy for problems such as depression, anxiety disorders, low self-esteem, work stress, trauma, poor impulse management, and more.

Bibliographic references:

• Casella, S.M. (2015). Therapeutic rapport: the forgotten intervention. Journal of emergency nursing, 41 (3): pp. 252 - 154
• Norfolk T., Birdi K., Patterson F. (2009). Developing therapeutic rapport: a training validation study. Quality in Primary Care, 17: pp. 99 - 106.
• Rogers, D. (2015). Further Validation of the Learning Alliance Inventory: The Roles of Working Alliance, Rapport, and Immediacy in Student Learning. Teaching of Psychology, 42 (1): pp. 19 - 25.
• Wierzbicki, M.; Pekarik, G. (1993). A meta-analysis of psychotherapy dropout. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24 (2): pp. 190 - 195.