What is Therapist Rotation?
The therapist rotation approach to mental health counseling works amazingly well at helping our clients achieve their therapy goals at an accelerated pace. This approach involves clients working with multiple therapists rather than just one.
In my opinion, therapist rotation solves many of the problems we see in the mental health world. I often hear stories of clients struggling with symptoms despite being in therapy for years. Clients may even grow dependent on therapy, feeling they will need it for the rest of their lives. With the demand for services, therapists are burning out at alarming rates, leading to ineffective services and high turnover. Therapist rotation helps alleviate both of these common barriers.
There is a misconception that for treatment to be effective; one must establish a deep relationship with their therapist. Building rapport is essential, but it shouldn’t take months or years. Good intervention, rather than the relationship, can be the key to success when it comes to mental health treatment!
Perhaps you’ve had your own therapy experience and felt like you were spinning wheels? Maybe you know someone who’s been in therapy for years but with little improvement? Good treatment should always produce results. If therapy begins to feel like “venting” or you are talking to a friend rather than a therapist, it might be time to try something new.
At CARE, we want our clients to leave therapy with a greater sense of control and the confidence that they can handle stressors on their own. With effective mental health treatment, most clients should not require lifelong therapy. Don’t get me wrong; we highly enjoy meeting with our clients. But, we look forward to the day they can graduate from therapy because it means we’ve done our job successfully, and our clients are on their way to a better way of living!
The Benefits of Therapist Rotation!
There are so many excellent benefits to the therapist rotation approach. Here are some:
- Each therapist has unique skills to help identify and resolve underlying mental health issues. Multiple specialists working on you are better than one!
- You won’t feel like you’ve fallen into the never-ending cycle of talk therapy. The therapists will hold each other accountable to keep you on track towards reaching your goals.
- Working with multiple therapists will encourage you to build trust with many people, which will help develop relationship-building skills.
- You will be less likely to become dependent on therapy.
- Reach goals faster when you have more support.
- The intervention becomes more powerful than the relationship.
- There will always be a therapist available to support you!
Learn more
In a study conducted in 2018 by a team of trauma therapists in the Netherlands on the effectiveness of therapist rotation, patients shared positive feedback about the therapist rotation approach. The majority indicated that they preferred being treated by multiple therapists instead of just one. The study also revealed that the therapists involved in the study reported that there were more likely to start treatment sooner and stay on track with the treatment protocols when working as a team.
While this isn’t a widely used practice in the US, it is an approach that shows promise in helping clients who have been feeling stuck. At CARE Counseling, we prioritize client outcomes. We are committed to bringing the latest and greatest skills and techniques to our counseling sessions so our clients can reach their goals and live better lives.
Please follow this link if you are interested in reading the research study.
Other articles you may like
%20(2).jpeg)
