Patient and therapist attachment style and its role in building an alliance: a Scoping Review

Abstract

Objective: to describe the role and impact that both the therapist's and patient's attachment style have on the therapeutic alliance built in individual psychotherapies with adult patients. Method: The search was carried out through the databases Web of Science, SCOPUS, PubMed, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, Psychology Database, Scielo and Lilacs. Results:Considering the inclusion criteria, 13 articles were selected and reviewed. The results show a great methodological variability in relation to the instruments used in each of the studies and in the times at which the measures were collected, with discrepancies in the findings. Conclusions: Although it is not possible to sustain the existence of a linear relationship between the therapist's and client's attachment styles in the quality of the alliance, it was possible to find some convergences, which highlight that the client's and therapist's attachment pattern can contribute or hinder its construction process. The importance of considering these variables in clinical practice is emphasized, promoting interventions more sensitive to the bonding dimension, allowing to offer patients a corrective bonding experience, favoring the development of epistemic trust in the therapeutic bond.