CONGRUENCE IN CLIENT COUNSELOR EXPECTATIONS FOR RELATIONSHIP AND THE WORKING ALLIANCE

The relationship between congruence in client-counselor expectations for relationship and ratings of working alliance was examined. Participants from 25 counseling dyads completed revised versions of the Psychotherapy Expectancy Inventory (J. I. Berzins, 1971) and the Working Alliance Inventory (A. O. Horvath & L. Greenberg, 1989) after the 3rd session. Correlational analyses revealed that counselor expectations for relationship were related to counselor working alliance ratings and that client expectations for relationship were related to client working alliance ratings. Multiple regression analyses showed that congruence in expectations for relationship was related to most aspects of counselor and client working alliance ratings, after controlling for expectations for relationship. Implications are discussed.