[Omers]

So I had my session with T today and things are back to “normal”. Last week T mentioned how he thought it would be beneficial for me to have a strong female mentor. T and I talked about all the amazing female mentors I had through college and how hard it is to not have any now. So... today I asked T what he thought of me possibly working with the female T in his building. T is her supervisor and she and I have talked briefly in passing. We discussed it a bit and he is super excited about this as a new option for our work together. So, T2 has agreed to work with me and we will be starting in August. I told them that they and Pdoc would have permission to share anything from our work together. I know her personality is going to stir up a lot of stuff with me so the four of us will have all kinds of stuff to work through. IDK, I might be crazy but I am really excited about this opportunity. We are looking at alternating weeks between T and T2. She charges less so it will help with the financial issues too. T2 is studying art therapy so that should be fun too.
Has anyone else worked with a team of two T’s? It seemed like an unusual request when I made it but both T and T2 seem excited about it too.

[nottrustin]

Congratulations, it sounds like this could benefit you greatly.
I worked with 2 Ts for about 10 months. Like you my 1st T was very supportive. They we both in private practice in different cities. I also gave them permission to talk. T2 did call T1. couple of times in the beginning to collaborate since she felt T was my primary T and she was there to help.

Overall it was very beneficial to me. Sure there were some hurdles but we worked through them

[ElectricManatee]

I've been seeing two Ts for about a year. The therapist I added is for EMDR and DBT (which are things T1 doesn't do) and discussing major relational issues that have come up with T1. I find it helpful to get two perspectives sometimes. T1 and I have been on a long journey of essentially finding and building up my core self, so that has been intense work and sometimes blows up in horribly painful ways. The other T helps me work through the blow-ups and build emotion regulation and distress tolerance. (She also sometimes validates that T1 has made a mistake when T1 is too stubborn to admit it and I'm feeling mildly gaslit.) It has been a really good experience for me, and it's generally not too difficult to remember what I have been talking about with each of them. I'd recommend trying it if you think it could be useful.

[Omers]

I think this is going to be an exciting if not sometimes complicated adventure for all of us. I think it will be really helpful that they already know each other, are in the same building and work well together. T1 is seeing this very much as a team approach seeing as gender is the key difference between them that I am trying to benefit from. I think T1 also sees this as a neat learning opportunity for T2 as she has only been in practice a couple of years and he has been in practice over 30 years. My personal bias says that I would be a very difficult client for her to take on solo but with this arrangement T1 is a strong base for both of us.

[Oliviab]

I am also a rather difficult client and it shows in the therapy relationship. I have worked with my current T for nearly 5 years, and have worked with an adjunct T on three occasions. The first was recommended by my primary T and he referred me to her. At the time, I was getting triggered by my own T and his resemblance to my abuser, but was also deeply attached to my T and really wanted the corrective experience of working through things with him. The T he referred me to was a young woman and mostly I spent my sessions with her processing my reactions to my primary T. I worked with both of them weekly for about 6 months and had signed ROIs so they could coordinate care. It helped bring stability to my primary therapy relationship.

The second time, I had hit a rough patch with my primary T again, we were stuck in re-enactments, and like EM, I felt mildly (or perhaps even moderately) gaslit at times when his version of what went on in the room didn't match mine, and he tended to think he had a firmer grasp on reality than I did. That time, I worked with a therapist in his practice who actually reported into my T. This therapist was a young, male, amazingly talented doctoral student who didn't let the fact that my T was his boss influence him. I did a lot of reality checking with him, and we talked a lot about power, privilege, and gender. He would tell me, "Don't let him dictate reality. Get back in there and fight for your right to exist!" I worked with him, alongside my T, for about 6 months and it was very helpful.

The third time, I was going through a stressful work situation and was having a lot of somatic symptoms. I sought an adjunct female therapist who could do somatic work with me and who also specialized in the intersection of personal, historical, and social trauma (and all of the "isms"), which were relevant to my work situation. I worked with her for about two months and it was also helpful. I was working on different things with her, so she and my primary T didn't coordinate care, although they knew about each other.

I do not have much respect for Ts who have a blanket policy of refusing to work with a client who is working with another T. I think it can be extremely beneficial in certain circumstances to have more than one T.