Project Overview
In collaboration with Dr. Gonca Soygüt at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, this project aims to evaluate the role of prior experiences of both patients and therapists on varying components of the therapeutic alliance, as perceived by both parties. We aim to incorporate the interacting relationships of both patient and therapist prior experiences and their dynamic influences on perceptions of the alliance in an attempt to better understand preexisting conditions that may facilitate alliance for both patients and therapists. Through this work, we are examining underexplored predictors of the therapeutic alliance in a non-western culture in order to assess the varying influences on this central psychotherapeutic construct across cultures.
Additionally, another project in collaboration with Dr. Zeynep Tüzün (also at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey) aims to translate our alliance observation coding system into Turkish and utilize this system to evaluate therapeutic alliance with Turkish youths.