Signs of Countertransference Problems In Co-Therapy Groups

Group Coleadership: A Critical Review

“…Anecdotal writings suggest that cross-theoretical orientations support the use of the coleader model, addressing such benefits as ways of addressing gender issues, power issues, relational issues, and training issues (Berger, 2002;Bernard et al, 1987;Cohen & DeLois, 2001;Demarest & Tiecher, 1954;MacClennan, 1965;Mintz, 1965;Pine et al, 1965;Rabin, 1967). It is logical to conclude that gender is a factor in how group members experience group leaders, and vice versa.…”

“…In current practice, psychoanalytic, gestalt, and marital and family systems work informs many of the presumptions in coleadership (Berger, 2002;Cohen & DeLois, 2001). Specifically, its utility was embraced because it could provide an objective accounting of the transference that occurs continually in groups; it also provides a vehicle for comparing perspectives, identifying blind spots, and identifying leader biases (Pine, Todd, & Boenheim, 1965;Rabin, 1967). Similarly, the notion of mixed-gender dyads was introduced to allow for opportunities for transference onto the male or female coleaders individually, as well as collectively as a couple (Demarest & Tiecher, 1954;MacClennan, 1965;Mintz, 1965).…”

Compatibility between cotherapists: An empirical report.

“…Other authors have elaborated on the ways in which the cotherapy arrangement enriches the range of transferences which group patients can experience (McGee & Schuman, 1970). At the same time, counter-transference reactions can more easily be identified and worked with because they are experienced in the presence of a peer who is sanctioned to give feedback about such matters (Pine et al, 1965). Thus, the potential advantages of the cotherapy relationship are many.…”