Snelling, Mollie (2016) Working Alliance and Empathy in Australian Therapists. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between empathy and working alliance in 163 current and future therapists in Australia. Data was collected via an online survey that included the Empathy Quotient questionnaire (EQ), Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RME), Working Alliance Inventory (WAI), and demographic information questions. Across the sample population, we found a significant, moderate positive correlation between overall empathy (EQ) and working alliance (WAI) that closely matched prior literature. EQ scores were also found to have significant and moderate positive correlations with each of the three subscales of working alliance: bond, goal, and task. Surprisingly, our data found no significant relationship between cognitive empathy (RME) and working alliance (WAI), however, it is recommended that further validation is sought for this correlation, as well as those of the WAI subscales. Finally, analysis using demographic information found that participants’ level of qualification was significantly correlated with levels of empathy and working alliance, however, only masters’ degrees were found to provide a significant improvement in both empathy and working alliance. Overall, our findings confirm the important link between empathy and working alliance, and suggest that current Australian therapist training programs could be improved by increasing the focus on alliance building skills and empathic responding.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Sue Littler |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Sep 2025 23:43 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Sep 2025 23:43 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | empathy ; working alliance ; therapists ; training |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52772 |
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