Co-Therapy
Co-Therapy
Your child develops communication through their relationships. We help you understand both your child’s profile and your own, exploring how these interactions support or challenge your child’s development.
A profile is the way each individual person learns, communicates and experiences the world.
Some people learn best when they can move around; others need to be very still and quiet. Some people communicate by using a lot of gestures, while others use very few gestures.
At My Therapy House, experience shows us that co-therapy is an effective way of working with children who have complex profiles and need support in several different areas. Co-therapy is also great for families who have many questions and concerns about their child’s development.
It can be difficult for one therapist to work with the child and discuss concerns with the parent at the same time, and this is where two therapists working together during the session are most beneficial to the child and the family.
Therapists encourage you to continue with strategies at home and in the community to help your child learn different skills through their experiences outside the therapy room.
Co-therapy allows you to highlight two specialised areas of therapy for your child and focus on them both in one session.
Co-therapy does not mean one therapist observes and does nothing while the other therapist works with you and your child. Both therapists work throughout the session to support different areas. One therapist may sit back and observe what is happening in the interaction or play, then join by supporting you or your child. They may also talk with you about what your child is doing in the present moment or discuss any concerns you might have.
When therapists and the family feel the child is able to regulate independently and the parent has a good understanding of their child and how to best support them, we may move onto single-therapist sessions or even to a dyad where the child is supported by one therapist with another child who is supported by another therapist.
Please contact us for more information.
Co-Therapy Research Project
We were privileged to have Jacinta Trebilcock and Emily Bayly, Final Year Speech Pathology Students from UniSA carry out their research project here at My Therapy House in August 2023 called “Investigating the Experience of Co-therapy in Early Childhood Intervention”.
The findings about co-therapy were overwhelmingly positive for all children, families and staff. There is not much research in this area and hopefully it will inspire more students and researchers to explore the practice of co-therapy in early intervention further.
We have attached the parent handout. The evidence is now showing why co-therapy works with children with complex profiles!
