The development of working alliance in early stages of care from the perspective of patients attending a chiropractic teaching clinic - Chiropractic & Manual Therapies

Furthermore, some participants explained that while going through the assessment, the trainee chiropractors demonstrated their background knowledge, which increased participants’ confidence in the trainee chiropractor. Overall, the interviews indicated that when trainee chiropractors show self-confidence, this self-confidence could make participants feel more confident in their expertise. While some trainee chiropractors were more self-confident than others, participants took into account that the trainee chiropractors were still in the process of learning. Furthermore, when trainee chiropractors display self-confidence, they can help patients feel less tense, potentially facilitating manual intervention. This theme focused on one aspect of early WA development – building patients’ confidence in the trainee chiropractors’ expertise.