Working aliance in psychotherapeutic work with intimate partner violence perpetrators: a review study

Abstract

The effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions aimed at intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators remains low despite innovations. One of the most robust predictors of psychotherapy effectivity is working alliance, which is said to be crucial in IPV perpetrator treatment by many authors. However, there is no review ex-amining working alliance in the treatment of this population. The aim of this systematic review is to answer the question: what do we know about the working alliance of therapists and IPV per-petrators? Results of 13 studies included in this review show that working alliance between the therapist and patient most likely contributes to the treatment effectivity measured by reduction of physical and psychological violence, and also increases group cohesion and the chance to complete the treatment.