What exactly is collaborative therapy? How Can I Find A Therapist Near Me or Online?

What exactly is collaborative therapy? How Can I Find A Therapist Near Me or Online?

Collaboration is the process of discussing counseling objectives and deciding on a plan of action to meet them. You are not alone despite the fact that your challenges are unique to you.

If you are experiencing issues like attachment issues, anxiety, family issues, communication issues, depression, or marital issues, speaking to a therapist who specializes in collaborative therapy may help you feel better.

What exactly is collaborative therapy?

In collaborative counseling, the client and the psychologist mutually determine the best way to carry out the course of treatment. It is based on a number of fundamental principles, such as respect, responsibility, cooperation, and honesty.

Harlene Anderson, a psychotherapist, developed collaborative therapy after noticing that, particularly for patients who have difficulty trusting authority figures, treatment might occasionally be hampered by a lack of collaboration between therapists and their clients.

Collaborative therapists lay a heavy emphasis on assisting patients with their challenges through collaborative goal-setting and resource identification.

Different Forms of Collaborative Therapy

The term “collaborative counseling” refers to a theoretical mode of therapy. It is therefore impossible to identify a specific kind of collaborative treatment.

The humanistic school of psychotherapy, which favors existential and person-centered approaches, is typically where it intersects. Creating a collaborative relationship with a therapist is essential to successful psychotherapy.

The two basic formats are client-led and therapist-led collaborative therapy. In client-led collaborative therapy, the client guides the conversation’s topics and concerns and works with the therapist to help prioritize their issues and goals.

In therapist-led collaborative therapy, the therapist takes a more active role in guiding sessions by creating experiments for clients to evaluate their shifting beliefs and ways of thinking or by applying other cognitive-behavioral therapy methods.

How Does Collaborative Counseling work?

In collaborative counseling, Harlene Anderson claims that relating to, working with, and constructing relationships with others become authentic and natural performances rather than procedures.

Prioritized seven ideas show collaborating therapists how to approach therapeutic engagement.

Prioritized seven ideas show collaborating therapists how to approach therapeutic engagement.

1. A dialogue based on mutual inquiry: The therapist and client engage in open, authentic, and sincere communication so that the client can fully understand their own issues.
2. Relational expertise: Therapists who can focus on the client and understand their experience may be more effective.
3. Being unaware: Ignorance includes holding off on making quick judgments, abstaining from trying to rapidly grasp every aspect of a situation, and letting the client decide the agenda for sessions.
4. Being honest: The therapist shares their “invisible thoughts” with the client, eliminating any uncertainty on their part. This could relate to theoretical, personal, or professional concepts.
5. Accepting ambiguity: Clinicians shouldn’t be expected to know all the answers; instead, they should be comfortable with uncertainty.
6. Mutually transformative: To promote communication, the therapist may make remarks, pose queries, and reaffirm that they fully get what the client is expressing. They create a collaborative relationship and work together to create a new understanding of the person’s experience, facilitating transformation.
7. Orienting toward daily life: Rather than becoming reliant on therapy, the therapist can help the client find methods to improve in daily life.

Always remember that you are in control and try to go into treatment with an open mind. During your initial consultation, please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

What Help Can I Get from Collaborative Counseling?

In a collaborative counseling session, the client and the therapist establish a rapport and communicate with one another rather than at one another. People can talk about their experiences while a therapist listens carefully and makes an effort to understand their viewpoint.

A key element of collaborative therapy is the understanding that the person receiving treatment is the ultimate authority on their own experience. The therapist never comes off as being in charge or as having superior wisdom or insight.

by extending an invitation for them to speak in their own voice and at their own speed. A collaborative therapist may also use particular techniques, such as genuinely demonstrating interest in the patient’s experience.

The therapist may ask whether the client’s account of what happened is accurate, actively listen and respond, pay special attention to verbal and nonverbal clues.

Because collaborative therapy is viewed as a therapeutic attitude rather than a model, it is not meant to treat any specific problem or sickness. Instead, it is a tactic that could help bring positive change and address a number of issues and obstacles.

During therapy, almost any agenda or wish that the client expresses to the therapist can be addressed. The collaborative approach between patient and therapist may be highly helpful for those who struggle with power imbalancies in relationships or find it difficult to trust others.

Here are few certified therapists who you can get in touch and book a therapy session with:

Jo Pang

Sam Gibbons

Wenna Chen