Most people would agree that it is important to feel comfortable with your therapist. But, a new study suggests that your relationship with your therapist is critical to symptom improvement.

The study, conducted by a group of researchers from the Netherlands, explored the impact of the therapeutic alliance on symptom improvement in patients with BPD. Patients who reported that they felt more strongly allied with their therapist after 3 months of treatment were less likely to drop out of therapy. Also, patients who reported increasingly positive alliance with their therapist over the course of the first half of treatment benefited more from the therapy.