Marianne Welmers

General Discussion 147 CHAPTER 6 Final Conclusions The current dissertation underlines both the importance and complexity of building strong working alliances with families receiving (home-based) treatment for complex child and parenting problems. It indicates that clinical practice as well as education and training of providers of (home-based) family treatment may benefit from a focus on actively engaging family members in the treatment process and investing in strong emotional bonds. The findings of this dissertation underscore the importance of a more systemic perspective on the working alliance to do justice to the complexity of systemic (home-based) family treatment. This includes addressing the process of buildingmultiple interacting alliances with different family members, engaging children and adolescents in a conjoint treatment process with parents, and promoting the family’s collaboration on shared goals. Future research on the process and effect of these systemic alliance aspects is warranted to build a stronger evidence base. Ultimately, a systemic research perspective onworking alliances in family treatment may guide family treatment providers in their efforts to well serve a variety of families striving to overcome complex child and parenting problems.