Which of the following is NOT a component of the therapeutic relationship?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Peer counselling
Option (1) Contractual nature of the relationship — A component (Incorrect). The first component of the therapeutic alliance: two willing individuals, the client and the therapist, enter into a partnership aimed at helping the client overcome her/his problems.
Option (2) Limited duration of the therapy — A component (Incorrect). The second component: the alliance lasts until the client becomes able to deal with her/his problems and take control of her/his life.
Option (3) Trusting and confiding relationship — A part of the relationship (Incorrect). The relationship is a trusting and confiding one; this high level of trust lets the client unburden herself/himself and confide personal problems to the therapist.
Option (4) Peer counselling — Not a component (Correct). Peer counselling is help and guidance given by trained people of the same age or standing as the person helped, such as senior students helping their juniors. It is a separate way of helping people, not a feature of the bond between a client and a therapist.
Note: NCERT gives the contractual nature of the relationship and the limited duration of the therapy as the two components of the therapeutic alliance, and describes it as a trusting and confiding relationship. The answer given by NTA, ‘peer counselling’, is not in the NCERT book (2023-24), which NTA followed in 2025, and not in NCERT (2025-26) either; it is explained here for the benefit of the students. It is the answer because it is a separate way of helping people and not a part of the relationship between the client and the therapist.
NCERT (2025-26): “Therapeutic Relationship … The special relationship between the client and the therapist is known as the therapeutic relationship or alliance. It is neither a passing acquaintance, nor a permanent and lasting relationship. There are two major components of a therapeutic alliance. The first component is the contractual nature of the relationship in which two willing individuals, the client and the therapist, enter into a partnership which aims at helping the client overcome her/his problems. The second component of therapeutic alliance is the limited duration of the therapy. This alliance lasts until the client becomes able to deal with her/his problems and take control of her/his life. This relationship has several unique properties. It is a trusting and confiding relationship. The high level of trust enables the client to unburden herself/himself to the therapist and confide her/his psychological and personal problems to the latter.…” |