Working alliance: Current status and future directions: Editor's introduction.

A special section of this issue of the Journal examines theoretically where we are in the area of working alliance and what is needed to advance understanding in this area. Six articles have been prepared by some of the very best minds in the field of psychotherapy in the area of working alliance. I am sure you will find these pieces to be thoughtful and far reaching and, just as important, they should provide energy and direction for research and thought on working alliance in the years ahead. The six papers are followed by a summary and integration by Dr. Samstag, in which she points out common themes and points of divergence among the six papers. From these, she develops some of her own thoughts about where we should be heading. As implied, our hope in creating this special section was that it would stimulate better theory, research, and clinical practice related to the working alliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).