The behavioral therapy results had been attributed for a long time to the right application of its techniques, giving sparse attention to the client-therapist relationship. More recent tendencies have emphasized that interpersonal aspects of the therapeutic context directly affect the therapy outcome. The present paper, reflecting on clinical practice, discusses two basic functions of the therapeutic relation : as a intervention and a therapeutic instrument itself. The curative relationship is analyzed as a two-way road where the therapist influences the client through the impact the client has on the therapist. Neither client nor therapist passes through this experience without being transformed.
Analytical psychotherapy; Therapist; Behavior therapy