In the past decade, the working alliance has emerged as possibly the most important conceptualization of the common elements in diverse therapy modalities. Created to define the relationship between a client in therapy or counseling and the client's therapist, it is a way of looking at and examining the vagaries and expectations and commitments previously implicit in the therapeutic relationship, explaining the cooperative aspects of the alliance between the two parties.

Adam O. Horvath currently works at the Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University. Adam does research in Health Psychology, Cognitive Psychology and Clinical Psychology. Their current project is 'Alliance in Individual Psychotherapy.'