Concepts of God and Therapeutic Alliance Among People with Severe Mental Disorders

SUMMARY

The current study explored some of the transferential aspects of God representations in a sample of adults diagnosed with severe mental illness. The sample consisted of 100 participants recruited from the consumers who were receiving comprehensive case management services at a community mental health agency. Participants who had positive beliefs about God also tended to have a good working alliance with their case manager, whereas those with more negative beliefs about God tended to have a poorer working alliance. The findings of this study support a common transferential process by which internal object relations form the basis of relationships both with real and transitional objects, i.e., the case manager and God. The implications of these findings for clinical practice are discussed.

Key Words:

• Adults
• clinical practice
• object relations
• mental health agencies
• transference