Anyone who has heard me speak on treatment outcomes will know of my proclivity to stress the importance of alliance in treatment outcomes, and how ruptures between the practitioner and the client can actually lead to improved outcomes if handled well. Again in research terms, you are always interested in "confluence." This is where lots of independent research teams come to similar conclusions, which is nearly always the case in alliance research. Findings have published an excellent review of this very issue. it showed that across multiple studies, key skills to manage ruptures in the working alliance generate profound impacts on outcome. To read the review click here.