Therapeutic connection and client progress in drug abuse treatment

This article explores the effects of the therapeutic connection between the drug abuse treatment client and the treatment counselor on the client's progress in psychological functioning during the course of treatment. Two hypotheses of the relationships between therapeutic connection and psychological functioning are formulated. The first predicts that higher levels of connection will be associated with greater improvement in the client's level of psychological functioning. The second predicts that higher levels of functioning at intake will, in turn, be associated with greater connection to counselor. Results from a longitudinal study of 139 participants in a federally sponsored pilot drug abuse treatment program in Houston, Texas show statistically significant associations between both a client's initial level of psychological functioning and therapeutic connection to counselor and between this connection and subsequent improvement in functioning.