[9] Co-therapy began with two therapists of differing abilities, one essentially learning from the other, and providing the opportunity to hear feedback on their work.
This can be in the case of clients (either singular, couples, or families) who express delusional systems[11] or aspects of psychopathy that may be difficult to deal with alone.
[13] This would benefit clients greatly as they can relate to situations created by therapists and discover healthy ways to react and process.
Bowers & Gauron furthered this by mentioning that a healthy relationship between co-therapists can act as an effective role model to patients.
Natalie Shainess described this situation as 'do as I tell you, but not as I do',[10] suggesting that clients need to also be aware of the imperfect representation that could occur, signalling that they should copy what is said, rather than what they see.
[11] Alternatively, if the therapists form an amicable relationship, there is also the risk of their attention being diverted from the client, which leads to a negative impact on the session where the treatment of the patient is compromised.
Dickes and Dunn suggested that voyeurism was an intricate part of co-therapy, where therapists gain sexual attraction to their partner as a result of competition in diagnoses.
[10] Co-therapists are required to spend a lot of time together outside of therapy sessions to discuss diagnoses and analyses of patients which, although seen in one sense as an advantage, can cause issues in the personal relationships of the therapists themselves.