Multiple therapy

In multiple therapy two counsellors work together with one or more individual, each therapist interacting with each individual and with each other. This method emerged from the recognition that an individual may have unresolved problems in his work with a therapist of one sex and may benefit from discussion with a therapist of the opposite sex (or vice versa). The two therapists in this method are therefore usually of opposite sex.

At least four dynamically distinct relationships are possible when two therapists work with one individual. These recapitulate the individual's relationships with his parents in their simplest form. It is in the addition of interrelationships between two people through the presence of a third or fourth person that an opportunity is gained for both conflict generation and resolution, which is not readily available in dyadic therapy. The method has been used particularly in dealing with married couples and their problems.