Theme 1, bond subtheme descriptions and supporting quotes
| Theme, percentage of sample endorsed (n) and description | Supporting quotes |
| Theme 1: bond, 89%, (17) | |
| 1.1 Feeling understood, 74% (14) The PWP’s ability to make the client feel understood. This requires the PWP to closely listen to the client, comprehend what is being said and demonstrate empathic awareness and insight into the client’s concerns. | P12, high-range WAI-SF-C score: “My therapist did make a real effort to try and get to know me, try to maybe get to know what made me tick and why I was feeling how I did, rather than just assuming this is what you need without … taking into account maybe what I as a person, personally needed”. |
| 1.2 Genuineness, 32% (6) The PWP’s efforts to help the client, that are perceived as genuine and authentic, as opposed to procedural or routine. | P9, low WAI-SF-C score: “To be honest, I kind of felt like she (PWP) was very fake…Every time I’d say something there would be an, ahh, it just felt not genuine at all, that she was just saying it because she thought I felt down…” |
| 1.3. Partnership, 74% (14) The ability of the client and PWP to achieve a working relationship that is akin to a friendship. Such a partnership is characterised by trust, empathy, feeling liked and feeling cared for. | P12, high-range WAI-SF-C score: “I feel like she, as I said earlier, took the time to get to know me and … what I was currently doing, so it did feel like she kind of knew me on an individual level, rather than just being the patient”. |
PWP, psychological well-being practitioner; WAI-SF-C, Working Alliance Inventory Short Form-Client.