title: Caring less, doing more: the role of therapeutic detachment with volatile and unmotivated clients.
abstract: The therapeutic alliance is taught and commonly regarded as essential in engendering change. The formation and maintenance of such an alliance often involves the corrective emotional experience of the patient with the therapist and the therapist's ability to relate empathetically. We posit that some situations and specific clients are better served by therapeutic detachment. In the following case, we put forth the principles and purpose of this therapeutic option.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, 348 Gordon Palmer, Box 870348, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0348, USA.
authors.forename: Virginia A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Galloway
authors.forename: Stanley L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Brodsky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D009769:Object Attachment; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000379:methods; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*