FOY Wellness and Recovery is a licensed PHP and IOP program in Agoura Hills, California. Our clinical program is developed and overseen by Clinical Program Director Dr. Shannon Dobbs, a licensed clinical psychologist. Relational Therapy is a foundational lens across our clinical programming, using the therapeutic relationship itself as a vehicle for growth.
What Is Relational Therapy?
Relational Therapy is an approach centered on the idea that meaningful psychological change often happens through relationship, including the relationship between client and therapist. Rather than treating the therapist as a neutral, distant observer, relational approaches use the real, developing therapeutic relationship as a space to notice and work through a client’s broader relational patterns in real time.
How Relational Therapy Works
Therapists using a relational approach pay close attention to what happens between client and therapist in session, including moments of connection, conflict, or misunderstanding, using these moments as material for insight into a client’s broader relational patterns outside of therapy.
Relational Therapy at FOY
Relational principles inform individual therapy across FOY’s clinical team, particularly relevant for clients whose difficulties with trust, connection, or conflict in relationships are closely tied to their presenting concerns.
Conditions Relational Therapy Addresses
- Difficulty trusting others
- Relational conflict patterns
- Attachment insecurity
- Isolation and disconnection
- Relational patterns contributing to substance use
What to Expect
Sessions may include direct, real-time discussion of the client-therapist relationship itself as a way of exploring broader relational patterns, alongside standard individual therapy content.
FAQs
Will my therapist talk about our relationship directly in session?
This can happen in relational approaches, used as a tool to explore your broader relational patterns, always with your comfort and readiness in mind.
Is Relational Therapy the same as Attachment-Based Therapy?
They overlap significantly; Relational Therapy specifically emphasizes the therapeutic relationship itself as a vehicle for change, while Attachment-Based Therapy more broadly explores early attachment history.
Is Relational Therapy evidence-based?
The quality of the therapeutic relationship itself is one of the most consistently researched factors associated with positive outcomes across nearly all forms of psychotherapy.
Will this approach make therapy feel more personal?
Many clients experience relational approaches as more personally engaged, since the therapist actively works with the real relationship rather than remaining strictly neutral.
Is Relational Therapy appropriate for someone who struggles to trust therapists?
Yes, this is often exactly the kind of pattern relational approaches are designed to gently work with over time.
How is this different from just having a good rapport with my therapist?
Relational Therapy is a deliberate clinical approach that actively uses the relationship as material for insight and change, beyond simply having good rapport.
Can Relational Therapy help with patterns outside of therapy, like friendships or family?
Yes, insight gained through the therapeutic relationship is intended to generalize to a client’s relationships outside of treatment.
Is Relational Therapy used alone or combined with other modalities?
It is typically integrated as a lens across other modalities rather than delivered as a standalone, separate therapy.
Is Relational Therapy covered by insurance?
It is delivered as part of FOY’s PHP and IOP clinical programming, billed as a level of care. Contact our admissions team about your specific plan.
Take the First Step
Call (805) 659-8429 or visit foywellnessandrecovery.com/contact for a free confidential assessment. We are in-network with Blue Shield, Cigna, and TRICARE through TriWest, and accept most other major PPO plans, including Anthem, Aetna, Multiplan, HMC HealthWorks, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, on an out-of-network basis.