Collaborative therapy, also known as collaborative counseling, is a therapeutic approach that aims to facilitate change and growth in individuals and families by focusing on cooperation, communication, and mutual understanding. This approach emphasizes the importance of collaboration between the therapist and the client, as well as the client’s social network, to create meaningful and lasting change. In this article, we will explore 9 things you need to know about collaborative therapy.
1. What Is Collaborative Therapy?
Collaborative therapy is an approach that emphasizes communication and cooperation as the key ingredients for resolving conflicts and achieving change. It’s collaborative in the sense that both the therapist and the client work together to resolve issues and foster growth. The purpose of this approach is to help individuals set goals, solve problems, define situations, clarify values, manage feelings, and improve relationships.
2. Who Offers It?
Although collaborative therapy is still relatively new in comparison to other forms of psychotherapy (it was first introduced in 1989), it has become increasingly popular over time among individual therapists as well as mental health professionals in other settings, such as hospitals or schools. Collaborative therapy is often used with individuals and couples, as well as families and small groups.
3. Why Is It Useful?
Collaborative therapy is an effective method of counseling because it enables you to provide a more empathic and encouraging approach to change, while focusing more on the positives than the negatives of an issue, situation, or relationship. Most importantly, collaborative therapists focus on the commonalities between individuals — not the differences — because both parties are working together to work through issues that can lead to growth. This approach is especially beneficial when one person has a more dominant role in the relationship and does not have the skills needed to facilitate change on their own.
4. What Are the Benefits?
Collaborative therapy is a relatively new form of counseling, but it has been very successful in terms of improving people’s lives. Some of its many benefits include:
● It fosters tolerance, compassion, and understanding by promoting communication and cooperation among individuals who may be accustomed to viewing things differently or having different perceptions or goals.
● It fosters empathy by allowing you to reflect on your own behaviors as well as those of the people you are helping, which can be helpful if you are unclear about how best to help them.
● It fosters growth by focusing on the positive aspects of a situation and developing new skills to meet challenging situations. The benefits of collaborative therapy can vary depending on the individuals you are working with, but most of them experience greater self-awareness, self-esteem, and improved ability to communicate with others.
5. When Is Collaborative Therapy Useful?
Collaborative therapy is most useful when used as an adjunct or add-on form of therapy to help improve an individual’s general level of functioning. This approach might be particularly helpful for someone who is having a hard time adjusting to interpersonal situations in general — such as during a new job, relocation, or other transitional period. Some people will find collaborative therapy useful no matter what stage of life they are in, while others will benefit more if they are experiencing conflict with someone close to them. It can also be useful with individuals who have some sort of social limitation. So, it’s not just helpful with problems that stem from psychological conflicts or mental illness; it’s also useful for helping people learn to come up with strategies and ways of dealing with issues faced on the job, at school or in their community.
Also Read: How does trauma therapy work?: Answering top 10 questions asked by our patients
6. How Does it Work?
Collaborative therapy generally involves a four-step process that includes the following steps:
● Goal setting: Collaborative therapists help participants set realistic goals and establish a “roadmap” for reaching them.
● Problem solving: Here, the therapist helps you to identify and engage in appropriate coping strategies or problem solving methods to solve problems.
● Emotional management: You learn how to manage your feelings as well as how to deal with your emotions in healthy ways.
● Relationship improvement: You also learn how to improve relationships by fostering more cooperation and communication among people involved in conflict or relationships that need improvement.
7. How Long Does Collaborative Therapy Take?
In general, collaborative therapy tends to be shorter-term in nature. For example, it can vary from 6 sessions to 20 sessions in order to address a specific problem or a single issue that’s brought up during the course of treatment. The length of the therapy itself is not necessarily fixed; instead, the therapist and client negotiate a specific time period that works well for them both. After this period has elapsed, both parties can decide whether or not they would like to continue with extended therapy together.
8. Who Is a Good Fit for Collaborative Therapy?
Collaborative therapy is generally most useful for individuals who are facing significant transitions in their lives. These transitions may include:
● A change in job or industry.
● A major life event, like getting married, graduating from college, moving to a new city.
● An ongoing challenge in one of your relationships that you and your partner are trying to work through together.
● An ongoing problem with an addiction.
Collaborative therapy can be beneficial with some people regardless of their age or the issues they’re facing, but it’s most useful when it works with people who have a lot of difficulty managing their feelings and coping strategies on their own. It’s also beneficial when you want to increase your level of understanding and empathy for other people.
9. What Happens During a Typical Session?
Collaborative therapy sessions generally follow a fairly predictable pattern:
● Step 1: Set goals that work for both you and your therapist. Find out what each of you agree is the important issue, problem, or challenge in the relationship. Although each person may have different issues they want to address in therapy, they should come up with one or two major issues that both feel are part of their problem or challenge.
● Step 2: Identify and discuss healthy ways of dealing with the issue. Some of the healthier ways to deal with a conflict include: Reaching common ground on a topic and discussing it rationally together. Working together to find a solution that both parties feel works for them.
● Step 3: Step out of role so that you can better understand each other’s perspective. It’s important to step out of your role when working toward more cooperation, even if it means putting yourself at a disadvantage (for example, by being in someone else’s shoes).
● Step 4: Challenge negative thinking and replace blame-oriented thoughts with more productive self-talk. This step helps you to see the situation in an objective way, so that you can challenge your own negative thoughts and develop more productive ways of thinking about it.
● Step 5: Work toward practical solutions. This step focuses on “how” as well as “why” you want to work together over the long-term to reach your goal. You’ll identify specific things that you want to work on together over time, and identify specific skills and strategies that you can use to reach your goal more effectively in the future.
Takeaway
Collaborative therapy is an approach that is intended to help both you and your therapist achieve your goals and be in healthy, more functional relationships with each other. During each session, the collaborative therapist works with you to identify the specific issues or problems in your relationship, challenges you face, and creates a plan for how you’d like to work together toward resolving the challenges.
