Cotherapy and its benefits

Most often, therapeutic sessions are led by a single psychologist. However, There are situations in which having two professionals can provide great advantagesboth for the patient and for the two therapists.

Carl Whitaker, a pioneer in family therapy, was one of the first to highlight the need to carry out approaches with two therapists. Consequently, he developed a cotherapy model that was one of the great contributions to family therapy.

Cotherapy consists of the application of therapy, whether individual, couples or in a group by two professionals. These work together, integrated and synergistic to reach a common objective, which is usually the improvement of the patient and their disorder or problem.

Who makes up the couple of therapists?

When we talk about two professionals we usually refer to a couple of psychologists, who may or may not belong to the same therapeutic current. Furthermore, both may be experts or it may be the case that one of them is an apprentice. This is common in family therapy and couples therapy, for example.

The therapist couple can also be made up of a pharmacotherapist (psychiatrist) and a psychotherapist (psychologist). This is more common in more serious mental disorders that require pharmacological treatment in addition to psychological treatment.

We can also speak of a co-therapist when we train a non-professional person. of the patient’s environment to act as our collaborator. In this way, you can help the patient complete the homework assignments that are asked of him in therapy. For example, they can jointly perform live exposure exercises in the treatment of a phobia.

This also occurs in the event that the treatment is applied to a child. For example, in the treatment of a child with autism spectrum disorder, nocturnal enuresis or mental retardation. It is essential that parents and/or teachers are trained and act as co-therapists to continue with the treatment outside the consultation.

It is also important in the case of older people, especially when they suffer from some type of dementia. Training family members and caregivers allows them to adapt to the patient’s pathology, learn to manage it and improve their living conditions and environment. In addition, it allows you to continue with the treatment at home and with the necessary cognitive stimulation activities.

Conditions for cotherapy to be beneficial.

There must be good communication and coordination between therapistsbefore the session, afterwards and during the analysis of the case. They must andThe responsibilities of each of the therapists and the authority of each one are well established. For example, if one of the two is an expert and the other is a learner, the latter is likely to assume the role of observer. The fact that Belonging to different therapeutic currents can never be an obstacle in therapy, but rather it must be enriching.. In this sense, an integrated treatment must be made possible through the use of techniques from different currents depending on their effectiveness or the type of patient or problem.The relationship between both therapists should never be competitive.. Both members of the couple must be able to recognize the strengths and limitations, both their own and those of the other member, in addition to recognizing that both are an essential part of the therapy.

Advantages of cotherapy

The presence of two therapists brings great benefits, not only to the patients, but also to the therapists themselves:

Deeper and faster changes can be achieved than with a single therapist. Having two therapists allows patients to have more resources than a single therapist can provide. A wider range of tools is generated at the patient’s disposal. This is observed more clearly in individual therapies directed by two therapists. Having two professionals in charge of evaluation and treatment allows for a holistic approach to both the problem and the treatment. This also allows for better data collection, with less loss of information, which enables a more complete diagnosis. Specifically in family or couples therapy, Having two therapists makes it easier to carry out a role play. The couple of therapists can play the role of each of the members of the couple or of the parents acting as a model. If we talk about couples therapy, having two therapists of different sex (for the treatment of a heterosexual couple) provides the possibility of being treated, in certain matters, by a therapist of the same sex as the patient. If one of the therapist couple is an expert, creates a very beneficial learning space. And it can facilitate the first steps in psychotherapy of a Nobel psychologist. Having a therapy partner can be a way to reduce pressure and stress for knowing that you are not the only one responsible for the final result of the therapy.

Psychologist-psychologist dyad

As we have mentioned, one of the options is for the therapy to be applied by a couple of psychologists. This is very common in family therapy and couples therapy and in other treatments for disorders that do not require additional drug treatment.

In the context of couples therapy and family therapy, having a pair of psychologists allows them to act as a couple model. This can help solve certain problems and allows the patient (the couple) to have two different points of view regarding the problem with which they come for consultation.

It also allows therapists to act as models for parents and as models of interaction with children. One of the main advantages of having a couple of therapists apply the therapy is that possible coalitions are avoided, between one of the members of the couple and the therapist “against” the other member of the couple, for example.

One of the therapies, perhaps best known, directed by two therapists of different sexes is Sexual Therapy by William Masters and Virginia Johnson, designed in 1970 for the treatment of sexual dysfunctions. However, couples therapy was first proposed by Mittelman in 1948 and applied by himself in 1961.

Psychologist-psychiatrist dyad

In this case, cotherapy consists of an integration between pharmacological and psychological therapy. This is especially necessary in more serious mental disorders, which require multimodal intervention.

In these cases, The administration of drugs improves certain symptoms that can interfere with the development of a subject’s normal life and, consequently, with therapy, allowing patients to be more likely to respond to psychotherapy. Likewise, psychotherapy can help improve understanding of the need to take drugs and improve adherence to drug treatment.

There is a wide variety of disorders that benefit from this therapeutic discipline. Among them we find, for example:

Substance use disorders. For the treatment of addiction to some substances (alcohol and heroin, above all), pharmacological treatment is necessary to reduce withdrawal symptoms and psychological therapy for training in self-control, social and coping skills, relapse prevention, etcPsychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Whose treatment depends on pharmacological treatment to reduce the main symptoms of the disease. But it needs to be complemented with psychological therapy to improve the family situation, to improve social competence, to carry out cognitive rehabilitation and to confront the main symptoms of the disease (such as hallucinations).Some mood disorders. Such as severe and chronic depressive disorders, which require psychotherapy to be accompanied by pharmacological treatment. In the case of bipolar affective disorder, the main treatment is pharmacological. However, psychotherapy is necessary to promote adherence, to promote non-pharmacological coping strategies or to identify prodromal symptoms to act in time.Some eating disorders, such as bulimia nervosa. In this case, the benefits obtained with psychological treatment can be complemented by the effects of drugs. Due to their effect on improving mood and their antibulimic effects.

Work together for the benefit of the patient

It is clear that not all treatments or therapies need to be applied by a couple of therapists. Even from the point of view of systemic technical integration (in which one or another treatment techniques are chosen depending on the type of client or patient), it can be counterproductive.

However, as we have seen, There is a wide variety of disorders that respond better to therapies applied by a couple of therapists. Be these two psychologists, a psychologist or a psychiatrist, or a member of the environment trained to collaborate in your treatment. Therefore, it is an option that we should take into account when treating certain disorders or certain patients.

Like any therapy or treatment, it also presents difficulties, derived mainly from the relationship between the therapists. Therefore, if resorting to cotherapy, one should not lose sight of the fact that This constitutes a context of collaboration, coordination, camaraderie and joint and complementary work. for the benefit of the patient.

You might be interested…