The working alliance between counselors and clients has been considered a significant component in the counseling process. Given the fact that rehabilitation counseling is a collaborative process between an individual with disability and a rehabilitation counselor, the development of the positive working alliance is also seen as an effective vocational rehabilitation intervention in the rehabilitation counseling field. Especially for clients with mental illness, a strong working alliance with their counselor is one treatment related factor that has a powerful and positive impact on their recovery. To provide individuals with mental illness with quality services, it is important to identify factors that can significantly affect the development of the positive working alliance. Although it is well recognized that there are significant counselor differences in their ability to facilitate positive working alliance with their clients, little research has examined the effects of counselor cognitive factors, such as attitudes and counseling self-efficacy, as significant counselor attributes contributing to the development and facilitation of the working alliance when working with clients with mental illness. Therefore, the current study focused on examining the relationships between counselor cognitive factors (i.e., rehabilitation counselors' attitudes toward individuals with mental illness and their recover, counseling self-efficacy, and counseling outcome expectancy) and the working alliance between rehabilitation counselors and their clients with mental illness. A sample of 227 certified rehabilitation counselors were randomly selected from the database of Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC). A cross-sectional and quantitative study design via an Internet-based survey was utilized in the current study. Results of this study showed that rehabilitation counselors' attitudes toward individuals with mental illness and their recovery, counseling self-efficacy, and counseling outcome expectancy were positively correlated with the working alliance between rehabilitation counselors and clients with mental illness. In addition, counseling self-efficacy and counseling outcome expectancy were the significant predictors of the working alliance.Data obtained from the current study can provide valuable information to current rehabilitation counselors and rehabilitation counselor education programs to facilitate counselor professional development. Limitations of the study, and implications for pre- and in-service education and training and future research were also provided.
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