Psychoterapists, team-work and integration in psychotherapy

Abstract

Contrary to what is usual in private practice, psychotherapists working in an institution are less isolated and more often work as a team. This is the case at the Counseling Center, Technical University, where a team of 6 to 8 psychotherapists, who started with different theoretical orientations, including the cognitive-behavioral, the experiential, the interpersonal and the systematic family therapy, try to work together. The authors will explain how teamwork helps prevent stress and burnout among therapists. The authors will also explore some aspects of the work of this recently created team (2-5 years), including: leadership, supervision and intervision, self-disclosure, sharing and intimacy, co-therapy, training and team-building activities, communication and conflict management, rivalry, planning, problem-solving and shared goals and tasks. This exploration is meant to simulate reflection upon an idea we believe might be useful for the “integrative movement”, in general, and for clinicians interested to work within an integrative framework, in particular: can teamwork facilitate psychotherapy integration? How= How could we take advantage of this “special opportunity”?

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v15i2.499