Abstract

The idea that the therapeutic relationship (TR) can influence outcomes in therapy above specific therapeutic techniques has a long established history within the broader psychotherapeutic literature. However, accurately measuring the TR can be problematic given that most measures rely on participant self-report and are thus subject to related biases (e.g. social desirability). Research suggests that measures of implicit attitudes may address some of these limitations and provide a different metric by which to assess the TR. This has implications for the accurate assessment of therapeutic processes and their relationship to therapeutic outcomes. This study aims to investigate implicit verbal relations towards the therapeutic relationship for clients receiving therapy in primary care and to determine the predictive validity of these relations to therapeutic outcome.