The Nature of the Co-Therapy Relationship

The cotherapy relationship: Special issues and problems in aids therapy groups

“…Some of the advantages enumerated in the literature over the past 20 years include: enhancement of the perception of the group therapist's self-awareness and capacity for limit setting through the presence and expertise of a second therapist (Block, 1961;MacLennan, 1965;McGee & Schuman, 1970); stimulation of transference development, ability on the part of cotherapists to more carefully study members' transference to each other and to the leaders (Block, 1961;Borghi, 1978;Brayborg & Marks, 1973;Demarest & Teicher, 1954;Gans, 1962;Mintz, 1963); therapeutic benefits inherent in pooling the resources and abilities of both therapists (Dick et al, 1980;Grand, 1982;Lothstein, 1980;Mintz, 1963); increased possibility of therapeutic identification for the members (Grand, 1982;Lothstein, 1980); alleviation of isolation involved in the single leadership model (MacLennan, 1965); approximation of the family context (Block, 1961;Cooper, 1976;Grand, 1982;Yalom, 1985); and provision of cognitive, emotional, and physical support (Dick et al, 1980;Gans, 1962;MacLennan, 1965).…”

“…Four distinct themes and related patterns of interaction were identified. The first dealt with how co-leadership may serve to enhance perception through the presence of a second therapist (Block, 1961;Demarest & Teicher, 1954;MacLennan, 1965;McGee & Schuman, 1970); the second involved the mechanism of splitting (Cooper, 1976;Heilfron, 1969;Kadis & Markowitz, 1973) and its effect on the cotherapy relationship and ultimately the group dynamics; the third related to the impact of parental transferences on the cotherapist relationship (Block, 1961;Cooper, 1976;Grand, 1982;Yalom, 1985); the fourth involved the influence of multiple deaths on the cotherapy relationship (Bechett & Rutan, 1990;Gabriel, 1991;Gambel & Getzel, 1989;Spiegel & Yalom, 1978;Tunnel, 1991).…”

Transition in the cotherapy dyad: To wait or not to wait

“…Two reasons frequently advanced for the use of cotherapists relate to the training of group psychotherapists and the special needs, including demands upon therapists, of psychotherapy groups composed of severely disturbed individuals (e.g., MacLennan, 1965;McGee and Schuman, 1970). While there has been some focus on the formation, development and maintenance of the cotherapy dyad, relatively little has been presented about transition within the dyad, yet such transition may occur with relative frequency.…”

The use of co-working (co-therapy) as a training method

“…By contrast Sager (1968) suggests that it is the luck of proper training in family therapy that leads to the use of co-therapy, a method which he feels to have disadvantages. One disadvantage of training by this method is seen by McGee and Schuman ( 1970), namely the turnover of trainee co-therapists during the life of a therapeutic group.…”