what is SPT?
Surrogate Partner Therapy
Surrogate Partner Therapy ( SPT )
is a supportive, hands-on, experiential modality
used to model and practice healthy relationships,
communication, and intimacy skills
within a collaborative team.
Together we focus on unraveling and
resolving the challenges hindering
physical and emotional intimacy.
After a foundational structure has been established between you and your talk therapist, a trained, ethical professional Surrogate Partner (SP) can be additive to co-create a safer supportive environment for you as you bring learning to life in a personal and meaningful way.
Working with a trained SP clears a space for curiosity to exist; where learning something new and not having all the answers is welcomed. This is a time to slow things down; a time for practice, met with patience and loving kindness.
The scope of this work incorporates confidence and competence as you become more attuned to the subtleties within your own body, mind and emotions. The pace is yours as you begin right where you are, taking one step at a time as you progress towards your goals.
First Things First
Our discovery call will be a time to drop in together and see if we are a fit. The first time we meet will be on the one-hour, three-way Zoom call with you, me, and your talk therapist.
Moving Forward
We will meet at the location that we had previously agreed upon depending upon where we are located from one another. Sessions will run between 2-4/hrs long. We will begin by asking you some questions about your history and what brought you to therapy. Then we will progress slowly through a series of exercises, beginning with breathing and encouraging relaxation, body awareness, consent and boundaries, eventually incorporating various types of touch. We will stop along the way to check in an how we are both feeling, what are needs are, and whether we would like to back up or move forward. There is no rush, expectation or “should” way of doing any given session. The exercises are there as a supportive structure, not a box to check off. We move at your pace with informed consent.
With SPT, clients often find it supportive that there is no pressure to please the surrogate. There is no “right” way to touch or specific technique that must be perfected. Our time together will be lightly structured, pressure-free, therapeutic, fun, challenging, and transformational!
After Sessions
After each session, I will check in with your therapist to be sure we are maintaining our intention of cohesion as we progress between each session. Three-person meetings can be scheduled as we feel they are needed.
Closing the Relationship
Surrogate-client relationships come to an end when all three members of the team collectively agree that the goals of therapy have been met and the time is right. We would have a process to close and celebrate our time together as well as a final three-person Zoom call.
