THE CO-THERAPIST METHOD: SPECIAL PROBLEMS AND ADVANTAGES

Abstract

There appear to be several plausible reasons why patients may gain more from the co-therapist method than from the single therapist system of group psychotherapy. In the early stages, it offers the patients a choice of a less threatening therapist to whom they might respond and relate. The "less threatening" therapist need not be the same for each patient in the group, but may merely be the one who activates less conflicts due to his personality structure in relation to that of the particular patient. The verbalizations of one therapist may be easier to comprehend by any given patient than those of the other even though they may both say essentially the same things.