Table 2 Themes – Summary and Key Attributes

The Context of the Clinic: Setting up the Conditions for the Process of Building Patients’ Confidence in the Upcoming Care Journey

1) The role of clinic’s reputation and others’ recommendations in participants’ openness to initiating working alliance.

2) The role of the thorough assessment.

3) The role of tutors’ supervision.

Key Chiropractors’ Qualities: Confidence and Perceived Expertise in the Context of Early Working Alliance

1) Trainee chiropractors’ self-confidence.

2) Trainee chiropractors’ perceived expertise.

3) The impact of patients’ sense of touch on their perception of trainee chiropractors’ key qualities.

The Role of Explanations in the Development of Working Alliance

1) The role of trainee chiropractors’ explanations in the process of establishing agreement on treatment goals and plan.

2) The role of trainee chiropractors’ explanations in the process of establishing a bond, consisting of trust, confidence and mutual understanding.

3) The potential role of trainee chiropractors’ explanations in patients’ adherence to the treatment plan.

4) Active listening and clear explanations as tools to amend differences in opinions.

Working Alliance in the Context of Pain

1) Participants describe a sense of vulnerability during chiropractic care.

2) The importance of active listening and the established bond in the context of patients’ experience of chronic pain.

3) Patients’ experience of pain in the context of treatment goals.

4) The importance of trainee chiropractor-patient agreement in the context of potentially painful situations.