Relationship and techniques in cognitive-behavioral therapy--A motivational approach.

Motivational attunement is presentedhere as a set of guiding principles thatcan be used to foster the therapeuticalliance in cognitive–behavioral ther-apy (CBT). The overarching goal ofmotivational attunement is to providethe client with need-satisfying experi-ences. In order to do so, the therapistmust attune his or her interventions tothe client’s motivational goals. The au-thors attempt to demonstrate how ther-apists can assess motivational goalsand use this information to foster thecentral components of the alliance. Theauthors also outline how motivationalattunement can be used to prevent andresolve alliance ruptures. Finally, em-pirical support for the effects of motiva-tional attunement is briey described.