Initial expectations for Psychotherapy as predictors of the working alliance: adolescents, their parents and psychologists perspective
Primary data were collected from more than thirty adolescents 14-18 years old, one of their parents and school psychologists, who filled Milwaukee Psychotherapy Expectations Questionnaire at the initial meeting. Working Alliance Inventory’s short form was filled by adolescents and psychologists after third consultation. The results confirmed the hypothesis that initial expectations for psychotherapy predict working alliance between client-adolescent and school psychologist after third consultation, thus initial expectations of different participants (children, parents and psychologists) and its congruence (child-parent, child-psychologist, parent-psychologist) have different weight. It seems that practitioners may benefit from assessing adolescents expectancies to facilitate rapport and engagement in the therapy and hereby foster more therapeutic change.
