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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 11/2012

01-11-2012 | Original Paper

Case managers’ perspectives on the therapeutic alliance: a qualitative study

Authors: Sara Bressi Nath, Leslie B. Alexander, Phyllis L. Solomon

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 11/2012

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Abstract

Purpose

In order to understand the nature of the therapeutic alliance in intensive case management, this study used qualitative methods to assess the dynamics of the case managers’ relationships with their consumers by examining their perspectives on their own and their consumers’ likeability, how helpful consumers perceive them to be, as well as their expectations for their relationships with their consumers.

Methods

The study employed content analysis of open-ended responses from 49 intensive case managers about their consumers.

Results

From case managers’ responses, four themes emerged describing the dynamics of the case manager/consumer relationship: motivation, monitoring, creating dependency, and being there.

Conclusions

The current qualitative findings suggest that current constructions and measures of the therapeutic alliance developed in psychotherapy research are not fully capturing the ways in which the unique structure and constraints of intensive case management influence relationships between workers and consumers.
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Metadata
Title
Case managers’ perspectives on the therapeutic alliance: a qualitative study
Authors
Sara Bressi Nath
Leslie B. Alexander
Phyllis L. Solomon
Publication date
01-11-2012
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 11/2012
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0483-z

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