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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concepts of the “therapeutic alliance” (Zetzel, 1956) and the “working alliance” (Greenson, 1965) from a number of different vantage points. I begin by briefly defining the terms and then examining certain aspects of psychoanalytic history which contextualize their appearance within the orthodox psychoanalytic tradition (1). I then consider the concepts from the theoretical perspectives of Klein and Bion, and discuss some issues concerning the nontransference dimension of the analytic relationship. Finally, I will raise some questions and speculations of a socio-cultural nature concerning what might be termed (to paraphrase Loewald, 1980) “the waning of the working alliance” within the contemporary framework of pre-Oedipal clinical theories.
Although the terms “therapeutic alliance” and “working alliance” are often used interchangeably, they actually designate distinctly different dimensions of the analytic relationship. Zetzel's (1956) concept of the therapeutic alliance refers to a relationship between analyst and patient which provides an atmosphere of basic acceptance, understanding, and safety. Zetzel had in mind the early mother-infant object relationship and, in particular, she emphasized that developing the therapeutic alliance was a mutual and reciprocal process. Not only did it require that the patient identify with the analyst, but also that the analyst be able to identify with the patient. By contrast, Greenson's (1965) concept of the working alliance refers to the more circumscribed and rational phenomenon in which the patient comes to identify with the “work ego” of the analyst and gradually becomes an analytic collaborator. Developmentally, the working alliance is sequential to, and made possible by, the therapeutic alliance.
Within the orthodox and ego psychology literature, both concepts have been extensively discussed and debated over the past 40 years. The theoretical issues involve whether there are dimen