This state-of-the-art book presents research-based practice guidelines that clinicians of any orientation can use to optimize the therapeutic alliance.

J. Christopher Muran, PhD, is Associate Dean and Professor at the Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies and Director of the Psychotherapy Research Program at Beth Israel Medical Center. His research and publications have concentrated on developing intervention and training models relating to the therapeutic alliance. Dr. Muran is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and coeditor of the journal Psychotherapy Research. Jacques P. Barber, PhD, ABPP, is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. He conducts research on the outcome and process of dynamic and cognitive therapies for depression, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance dependence, and personality disorders. He has also written extensively on the impact of the therapeutic alliance and therapists\u2019 use of theoretically relevant interventions on the outcomes of various therapies. Dr. Barber is a recent past president of the Society for Psychotherapy Research.