The following quote is from one of many pieces of research that has shown how important a good therapy relationship is in being able to facilitate client change.
Research to date strongly suggests that a client and therapist who establish a good-quality working alliance early in treatment are more likely to achieve good outcome. Moreover, the quality of the alliance in a given session is predictive of change in symptom distress by the following session. (link to the research paper overview)
This seems like common sense from my perspective, as being a therapy client (and I've been one on many occasions myself), is a vulnerable position to be in. So being able to make an early positive connection with a would be therapeutic partner in a journey of unknown self inspection and revelation is not something that anyone would be drawn to embarking on if they didn't get an early sense that they were able to trust in the therapist to be their companion.
And a good therapeutic connection isn't a given, as even very experienced therapists can be the wrong fit for some people - I've experienced this myself and had to muster the courage to tell them at the end of our first session together that I didn't think we we're the right fit.
In my current position as the therapist I'm happy to report that I've been the right fit for many clients, and I've had the privilege of joining them in their journeys from being stuck, sometimes with painfully low self-worth, sometimes hopelessness, shame or confusion, and I've seen them take the winding path to rediscover their value and their voice, to begin to make sense of their past, and build a new foundation to help guide them into the future.
My advice then to those who are seeking out therapy and indeed considering me as a potential therapeutic partner is to try me and other therapists out for size until you get that distinct sense that you can work well together. Many of us offer a free session for that very purpose because we all ultimately want to be able to facilitate good outcomes for our clients and this is one of the very good basics to get right straight away.
