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Abuse, and Childhood Wounds

Cooperative Therapy

A POWERFUL, SUCCESSFUL, LOW-COST APPROACH TO DEEP EMOTIONAL HEALING, PERSONAL GROWTH, AND DECISIVE ACTION FOR CHANGE

Cooperative Therapy Today

Lundy Bancroft
P.O. Box 253
Northampton MA 01061
(413) 582-6700

Cooperative TherapySM is the most powerful approach to emotional healing and renewal that I have ever encountered. It has changed my life profoundly, and could do that same for yours. And it is far less expensive than other forms of therapy – in fact, once you have taken the original training course, it’s free. Cooperative Therapy opens up a path toward empowerment, love, and fulfillment.

Cooperative Therapy focuses on bringing to fruition our natural, inherent emotional healing processes common to all people. CT works on the principle that your body already knows how to keep you emotionally well, just as it knows how to keep you physically well. Human beings have largely misunderstood, and have often actively stifled, precisely those healing mechanisms that were best designed to make us well.

These most deeply healing forces include:

• The power of love, especially when we receive another person’s loving, supportive, uninterrupted attention
• An opportunity to tell someone the truth about what has happened to us and what those experiences have been like for us, to tell what they have really meant
• Deep sobbing and crying to cleanse our many sadnesses, hours and hours of it, healing our broken hearts and making us whole again, able to see the sunshine and feel its warmth
• Deep and prolonged laughter, which cleanses our anxieties and strengthens our hope
• Stormy rages and tantrums (away from anyone who might be frightened or disturbed by them) that wash away the pain of insult and injustice
• Trembling, frightened outcries, and other releases of deep fear and panic, which liberate us from our internal cages and leave us feeling calm and courageous
• Having the experiences of being deeply heard and believed, which breaks down our isolation and opens up our hearts to the healing power of love. These healing benefits in turn help the processes listed above, such as our laughter and our tears, to function more frequently and more deeply, in a wonderful mutually reinforcing cycle of love and healing.

Participants in Cooperative Therapy sessions exchange counseling time rather than exchanging money, so the therapy is free. People meet in pairs, typically for a two-hour session. During the first hour, one person acts as counselor and the other as client. The pair takes a few minutes break and then switches roles for the second hour. This cooperative relationship empowers both participants. Neither one feels cast into the sole role of “helper” or “the person who needs help”. Each person feels that the help they give can be as valuable and important as the help they receive. Participants find it easier to expose their vulnerable places because the other person also takes a turn to do so. The two people form a confidential “healing partnership” that furthers the recovery and renewal of both people.

Cooperative Therapy includes the building of healing communities and networks, so that emotional support and love can be integrated into our day-to-day lives, rather than being left to a one-hour session once a week (which rarely feels like enough). CT participants increase their support through brief telephone sessions once or twice a week, occasional one day or weekend retreats with larger groups, the sharing of inspiring newsletters, and other approaches to joining together in our healing journeys.

Cooperative Therapy proceeds on the belief that huge changes are possible, not just small ones, and that life can be a profoundly loving, joyous, and fulfilling experience, free of chronic emotional pain and injustice.

What is Cooperative Therapy SM?

Cooperative Therapy SM was created by Lundy Bancroft, drawing on his twenty years of experience in trauma, abuse, and healing work, and on his experience in several peer-support, recovery, and leadership networks. Cooperative Therapy is an approach to deep emotional healing outside of professional therapy, using extensively trained peer therapists who work together to support each other’s healing, and to develop a peer support network. Many individuals find Cooperative Therapy more powerful and effective than professional therapy, at a much lower cost.

Cooperative Therapy is two-way counseling. Participants meet for two-hour sessions. For the first 55 minutes, one person takes the role of counselor and the other is the client. At the end they take a break for a few minutes, and then switch roles for another 55 minutes, so that both people experience the benefits of being the person receiving the assistance and of being the person offering the assistance. At the core of Cooperative Therapy is this work in counseling pairs, called “co-therapy”.

Participants begin by receiving extensive training, in formats of either three months of weekly classes, or three and a half days of training in a retreat context. This course trains you in:

• How to be an effective counselor
• How to be a successful client
• Skills for becoming a caring and empowering listener
• Techniques to help your client (and yourself) have deep and cathartic emotional experiences through laughter, crying, healthy (non-destructive) raging, and other cleansing releases
• Approaches to relieving isolation, sadness, anxiety, and hopelessness
• Strategies for reclaiming power and taking charge of your life
• Ways to connect individual healing to activism for justice and social change

Trained co-therapists learn a large array of techniques that lead to powerful sessions. Underlying these skills is a commitment to the transformation that grows out of love and compassion, thinking well about each other, and tapping into the power of deep emotional releases.

Will Cooperative Therapy SM work for me?

Cooperative Therapy works best for people who are caring and sensitive, who like to listen in a focused way to other people, and who feel prepared to open up about personal issues. Because the co-therapy approach involves sharing responsibility for playing the role of counselor (and thus for being the voice of hope and courage), participants need to be able to feel hopeful and energetic a substantial portion of the time, even if they have other times of deep discouragement or emotional pain.

If you want to make positive changes in your life and make a difference in the lives of others, Cooperative Therapy has the potential to bring tremendous growth and fulfillment to your life.

For whom is Cooperative Therapy SM not recommended (yet)?

Because of the two-way nature of Cooperative Therapy, the process does not work well for people who are in such chronic emotional pain that it is difficult for them to focus on someone else’s concerns for an extended period of time. In additional, some Cooperative Therapy techniques have the potential to be powerful, so participants need to be prepared to deal safely with deep and uncomfortable feelings that may emerge. For these reasons and others, people who are severely depressed or who are feeling seriously unstable emotionally should seek professional help, and participate in Cooperative Therapy only after they are feeling more solid. Individuals with severe mental health problems, such as suicide attempts or chronic suicidal desires, hallucinations, violence against others, or feelings of persecution, should wait until their symptoms are under control and they are cleared for participation by a licensed mental health practitioner.

Cooperative Therapy is not appropriate for individuals who are abusive toward their partners or children, until they have accepted full responsibility for that abusiveness and are involved in specialized abuse-related services. Similarly, people with active addiction to alcohol or drugs will to need to enter recovery prior to participating.

How do I learn Cooperative Therapy SM? What is the cost?

There are two ways to learn Cooperative Therapy. The first involves thirty hours of class time, usually taught in twelve weeks of two and a half hour classes. The charge for the course currently is $30 per week, for a total of $360. Classes are offered in Western Massachusetts. The second way to receive the course is in three and a half full days of training in a retreat setting, generally running a Friday through a Monday. The charge for these courses depends on the cost of the facility being used, but tends to be about $500.

Some full and partial scholarships are available for the weekly course and for retreat courses.

After (and during) the initial training, participating in co-therapy sessions is free, so over time Cooperative Therapy involves much less expense than most professional therapy and other personal growth services.

Click here for a schedule of Cooperative Therapy weekend retreats and other weekend programs offered by Lundy Bancroft.

If you live in or near Western Mass and are interested in taking the class in the weekly format, contact Lundy at (413) 582-6700 for more information.

Do I need to bring a partner to the course?

If you are learning Cooperative Therapy in a weekly class, you will have the opportunity to share co-therapy sessions outside of class with other students in your class, so there is no need to bring a partner. However, if you already know someone who would be a good counseling partner for you (more on this below), by all means encourage him or her to take the class with you.

If you choosing to learn Cooperative Therapy in one of the retreat courses, it will be important to find someone who lives near you to take the course with you, so that you will have someone to be your co-therapy partner when you return home.

In choosing a co-therapy partner, look for the following characteristics: 1) Someone whom you like and admire, 2) Someone who is supportive and listens well, without giving too much advice or direction, 3) Ideally someone who is not very involved, or not involved at all, in your personal life (however, if a friend or partner is your only good option, there are ways to make it work), 4) Someone who you believe can give love, support, and encouragement as well as they receive it.

How long is the time commitment?

During a weekly training course, each week participants need to attend a 2.5-hour class and take part in a 2-hour co-therapy session outside of class to practice the principles and techniques being taught. The first-level training course is 12 weeks long. In the retreat courses, practice sessions are integrated into the daily schedule. The first-level training course takes three and a half days in the retreat setting.

Once you have completed the training course, how much time you put in is up to you. But to experience deep benefits from the process, it is generally important to do at least one co-therapy session per week of two hours duration, with a 55-minute turn for each person.

Any training beyond the first level is optional and is not essential to experiencing the full benefits of Cooperative Therapy.

What if I’m already a therapist myself?

If you have received clinical training, you will find that Cooperative Therapy has some elements in common with what you have already learned. But most of the techniques and approaches that you learn will be powerful and new, especially in their ability to help you with your own healing. Although the Cooperative Therapy course is geared toward training you to use co-therapy sessions for your own benefit, you are likely to find that you also choose to take some of the approaches back to your professional practice.

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Cooperative Therapy Today (CTT) also offers the following opportunities, in addition to the first-level training in co-therapy:
At no charge

• Ongoing support and advice in creating and maintaining a supportive Cooperative Therapy network in your geographical area
• On-line articles and other web resources
• An invitation to participate in the structuring, growth, and development of the Cooperative Therapy Alliance organization and support networks

At low cost

• Advanced trainings and supportive retreats beyond the first level, for those who choose to learn more or who seek additional group support
• Teacher-certification training, for those who would like to be credentialed to teach Cooperative Therapy to others

For a schedule of upcoming Cooperative Therapy weekend retreats, and other weekend programs offered by Lundy Bancroft, click here.

If you live in or near Western Massachusetts and are interested in taking the class in the weekly format, contact Lundy at (413) 582-6700 for more information.