The working alliance is a problematic concept in regard to its utility, definition, and relationship to transference. Rawn believes the notion of working alliance is unavoidable because "implicit in our theory of therapy is the idea that effective interpretation leads to structural change when a nonconflicted part of the patient is able to use it." He defines the working alliance as "that part of the patient's relationship to the analyst triggered by the patient's observing ego that is totally devoid of transference." Although clinically there is overlap of working alliance and transference, the concepts can be separated. When a patient associates freely with minimal resistance or assimilates interpretations into insights, the patient has formed a working alliance. Working in therapy should not be confused with internalization of the therapeutic object. The alliance is an ego function: "that part of the ego that has to do with observation, synthesis, and acceptance of accurate interpretation."