Recent studies have confirmed empirically what psychotherapists have argued since Freud: the TA is an integral part of therapy and the change process itself. Bordin (1979) proposed an elegantly succinct theory of the TA; the generalizability of the psychoanalytic concept of the working alliance which is then integrated with recent research, theory, and clinical observation from the field of offender rehabilitation, to propose a Revised Theory of the Therapeutic Alliance (RTTA) that is particularly relevant for therapists who work to reduce future risk of criminal behavior. The RTTA uses a social-cognitive framework to integrate the best aspects of Bordin’s work, with the current therapy process literature, and clinical observations about the challenges to the TA that arise with offenders, particularly when undertaking risk-related rehabilitation in custodial settings. The RTTA proposes that the interaction of several factors, treatment setting, therapist and client characteristics, cognitions, perceptions, and emotions, and therapist and client behavior, produce a TA as measured by Bordin’s goals, tasks, and bond. Knowing that the TA often has a sizeable effect on treatment outcome in general, it is time that it is given more explicit attention in offender rehabilitation. The RTTA is a step in this direction. Figure, references