Revisión de las nociones de la alianza terapéutica, sus antecedentes conceptuales y aportes a la investigación / Review of the notions of the therapeutic alliance, conceptual background and contribution to research

Existe un fuerte consenso acerca del valor de la Alianza terapéutica (AT) en diferentes modelos de psicoterapia, ya que este es considerado un fuerte predictor de los resultados de la misma. (Del Re, Flückiger, Horvath, Symonds &Wampold, 2012; Gelso, 2009; Horvath, Del Re, Flückiger& Symonds, 2011).En este trabajo se presenta una revisión de los orígenes del concepto de AT hasta su operacionalización y uso posterior en investigaciones empíricas a partir de la década del ´70. También se exploran los términos históricamente vinculados a la misma, desde su origen en los inicios del psicoanálisis, se citan los principales instrumentos de medición de la misma y los estudios más destacados que dan soporte a su utilidad.

There is a strong consensus about the value of the Therapeutic Alliance (TA) in different moels of psychotherapy, since this is considered a strong predictor of the results of the same. (Del Re, Flückiger, Horvath, Symonds & Wampold, 2012; Gelso, 2009; Horvath, Del Re, Flückiger & Symonds, 2011). This paper presents a review of the origins of the concept TA until its operationalization and later use in empirical research from the decade of ¨70. It also explores the historically linked terms in it, from its origin in the beginnings of psychoanalysis, the main instruments of measurement and the most outstanding studies that support its usefulness.

From multiculturalism to interculturality: through the relational reason

Multiculturalism is a term which was spread in the West during the 1960s to indicate respect, tolerance and defence of cultural minorities. The idea of multiculturalism has become a collective imaginary ("all different, all equals"). It has generated a political ideology supporting an inclusive citizenship towards "different" cultures. After being adopted as official policy in many Countries, multiculturalism has generated more negative than positive effects (fragmenting the society, separating the minorities and creating public cultural relativism). As a political doctrine, it seems harder and harder to be put into practice. At its place, today we talk of interculturality. But this expression also seems quite vague and uncertain. This essay discusses the possible alternatives to multiculturalism, asking itself whether the way of interculturality can be a solution or not. The Author's thesis is that the theory of interculturality has the advantage to stress the inter, namely what lies in between different cultures. But it does not possess yet the conceptual and effective means to understand and handle the problems of the public sphere, when the different cultures express radical cultural values that bring about conflict between them. The troubles of interculturality result from the lack of two things: an insufficient reflexitivity inside the single cultures, and the lack of a relational interface between the different cultures (between the carrier subjects). Modern western Reason created a societal structure (lib-lab) promoting neither the first nor the second one. In fact, it neutralizes them, because it faces the dilemmas of values inside the cultural diversities through criteria of ethical indifference. Such criteria set reflexitivity to zero, preventing individuals from understanding the deepest reasons of the vital experience of the others. Reason is emptied of its meaning and of its understanding capability. To go over the failures of multiculturalism and the frailties of interculturality, a lay approach to the coexistence of cultures is required, being able to give strength back to Reason, through new semantics of the inter-human diversity. The Author suggests the development of the "relational reason", beyond the forms already known of rationality. To make Reason relational might be the best way to imagine a new social order of society, being able to humanize the globalizing processes and the growing migrations. The after-modern society will be more or less human depending on how it will be able to widen the human Reason, structuring it inside a new "relational unit" with the religious faith.(AU)