Walsh, ChristineCairns, SharonGilroy, Jan2014-03-262014-06-162014-03-262014http://hdl.handle.net/11023/1391Youth homelessness continues to be a concern across Canada. Previous research has demonstrated that the working alliance between youth who are homeless and youth workers is an important factor in breaking the cycle of homelessness. The purpose of this research was to explore the working alliance from the perspective of the youth. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine youth (ages 16 and 17) who were recruited from overnight shelters in Calgary, Alberta. Smith, Flowers, and Larkin’s (2009) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the data collected from the interviews. From the data the Working Alliance Stage model was developed. This model consists of a pre-stage: entering and five stages: the friendly foundation, the right environment, they “got my back,” the working part of the working alliance, and the outcome. While this model was developed for youth who are homeless the generic outline may be applicable for other youth populations.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.PsychologyYouthHomelessWorking Alliancemaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/26087