Toward a broader understanding of split alliances in family therapy: Adding the therapist to the mix

To broaden our understanding of a split alliance in family therapy, we investigated the frequencies and correlates of sessions in which therapists, youth, and caregivers reported markedly different perceptions of the alliance. The sample consisted of 156 Spanish families who received Alliance Empowerment Family Therapy (Escudero, Adolescentes y familias en conflicto, 2013) for child maltreatment. Family members and therapists rated the alliance on the SOFTA-s (Friedlander et al., Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2006, 53, 214) after sessions 3, 6, and 9; family members rated their perceptions of treatment progress before sessions 4, 7, and 10. A cluster analysis differentiated sessions with a split adult-youth alliance (27.7%) from a split family-therapist alliance (44.1%), and a balanced alliance (similar ratings across the three perspectives; 28.2%). Client-rated treatment progress was differentially associated with the type of alliance split and the average alliance rating, whereas better posttreatment outcomes (child functioning and family goal attainment) were associated with fewer sessions having either type of split alliance.