Good versus poor therapeutic alliances with non-accepting parents of same-sex oriented adolescents and young adults: A qualitative study

Objective: Therapeutic themes and processes associated with five good versus five poor parent-therapist alliances among a sample of non-accepting parents of sexual minority youth/young adults participating in family therapy were examined. Method: The Consensual Qualitative Research approach was used to analyse of therapy notes and follow-up interviewsfrom good and poor alliances. Results: In good alliances, parents adopted relationship building as a goal, considered essentialist causal attributions of same-sex orientation, acknowledged positive aspects of their child, and perceived the therapist as empathic and accepting. Parents with poor alliances rejected relationship building as a goal, rebuffed essentialist causal attributions, dismissed the possibility of their own coming out, nullified positive aspects of their child, sought to change their child's sexual orientation, blamed therapists for validating their child's same-sex orientation, and pressured therapists for information about their child. Conclusions: Clinical implications are discussed.