Co-Therapy/ Joint Sessions
Sometimes another set of eyes—and another person in the room—can shift the work.
There are times when therapy reaches a place where having another experienced clinician join you can be useful. Not to take over the treatment or replace the relationship you’ve built with your client, but to partner together, bring another perspective, another nervous system, and another way of seeing what may be happening in the room. Clinical work can be incredibly isolating particularly with complex cases, my hope is to build a community of therapists partnering with each other in this work. We support our clients but also deserve that support too.
I offer co-therapy and joint sessions for therapists who want to work collaboratively around complex relational, trauma, attachment, or are feeling stuck.
What Does Co-therapy/ Joint Sessions Actually Look Like?
Co-therapy can look different depending on the client, the therapist, and what is happening in the therapy room.
Sometimes I may join you for a session, a short series of sessions around a particular area where the work feels stuck or especially complex. Other times, there may be value in working together for a longer period of time.
We aren’t simply two therapists doing the same job. The value is in what becomes possible when two clinicians can notice different things, hold different parts of themselves in the room, and think together in real time.
Before beginning, we’ll talk about what you’re noticing, what you hope my presence might add, and how we can structure the work in a way that makes sense for you and your client.
You might consider bringing me into a session when…
You find yourself looping in the same clinical space, despite good work, and a strong therapeutic relationship.
A couple or a relational system has become challenging for one therapist to track and hold at the same time.
Trauma, attachment, dissociation, or complex relational dynamics are nuanced and each partner needs additional support.
Something important seems to be happening in the room, but it’s difficult to see clearly while you’re deep in the work.
You have the clinical instinct that another perspective could help open something up.
You want support with a particularly complex session without transferring the client or stepping away from the work.
You are a MFT and systems working therapist and this just makes clinical sense but haven’t found your co-therapist yet.
What I bring to the room
My clinical work has spanned sitting with the complexity of client’s stories, connected to complex trauma,, family of origin wounding, and the ways our histories show up between people—not just inside of them.
Before becoming a therapist, I worked as a nationally certified ASL interpreter at many systems levels, in addition to helping me develop an attunement to the subtleties of body language, communication, and nuances of the human experience.
I tend to pay close attention to patterns: what is happening between the client and therapist, what isn’t being said, where the room becomes activated or disconnected, and what different parts of the client may be trying to protect.
I am an EMDR Certified Therapist and EMDRIA Approved Consultant in Training™, with a clinical background in relational therapy, somatic psychology, attachment, parts-oriented work, and systems orientated work. My approach to consultation is grounded in curiosity, critical thinking, and helping therapists deepen both their clinical skills and their ability to think about the work in nuanced, relational ways.
Next steps and how it works
1. We talk first.
You and I connect about what is happening in the treatment and what you’re hoping a joint session might offer.
2. We decide whether co-therapy makes sense.
Not every clinical situation needs another therapist. We’ll think together about whether my involvement would actually add something useful and supportive.
3. We make a plan together.
If we move forward, we’ll clarify the purpose of the joint work, everyone’s roles, and how we’ll communicate before and after sessions.
4. We meet with your client(s).
Depending on the situation, that may mean one joint session, several sessions, or a more ongoing co-therapy arrangement.
Interested in working together?
Are you a therapist wondering whether bringing another clinician into the room could support the work with one of your couples or relational work?
Reach out and tell me a little about what you’re navigating. We can talk about whether a joint session or co-therapy might be useful and what collaboration could look like.
Let’s Work Together
Sarah Nunes, LCSW
Relationship & Trauma Therapist
EMDR Certified Therapist and EMDRIA Approved Consultant in Training™