The impact of emotion regulation on the establishment of the therapeutic alliance in post-divorce group intervention: A multilevel approach

OBJECTIVE: The present study focuses on the impact of emotion regulation on the establishment of the therapeutic alliance in a context of post-divorce group intervention. METHOD: The study involved 177 divorced parents and 60 therapists and was developed through multilevel path analysis. RESULTS: The data showed an association between emotion regulation and therapeutic alliance across the difficulties of adaptation to divorce, although the results were different from the perspective of the participant and of the therapist and between the individual and the group level. CONCLUSION: The study highlights the relevant role of emotion regulation in post-divorce adaptation and in the success of the establishment of the therapeutic alliance, while clarifying the formation of the alliance from the viewpoints of the individual and the therapist. The study also highlights the need to understand the alliance at both the individual and the group level, in order to design therapeutic interventions.