The Supervisory Situation

Abstract

Supervision remains the sine qua non of training in psychodynamic psychotherapy. The classical method of consists of the presentation by the supervisee of process material derived from psychotherapy sessions. The inherent complexity of the supervisory process has often been noted1 and ongoing argument persists over whether should be didactic and completely patient oriented or should include an active exploration of the therapist's emotional responses to the patient and thus be therapist centered. The danger of the latter, of course, lies in transforming the supervisory situation into a parallel therapy for the supervisee that inevitably brings the nature of the supervisor-supervisee relationship into potential play in the supervisory process. To ignore the clinician's emotional response to the patient, however, is to fly in the face of the whole modernist development in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, so eloquently described by Cooper2 in his examination of changing theoretical views of transference. In this perspective, it is crucial to an understanding of psychotherapeutic process to examine the interaction between patient and clinician and to use the clinician's response as a further source of clinical data concerning the patient. The theoretical shift is thus from Freud's purportedly scientific observer-interpreter model to a more realistic one of interactive participant-observer in the clinical setting with the caveat that this view makes an already complex situation even more Byzantine. A recent seminal book by Jacobs, David and Meyer, The Supervisory Encounter,3 provides a long-overdue, comprehensive, and sophisticated examination of the process of and directly addresses the issues touched on above. The authors correctly observe that the literature rarely deals with the inner experience of the supervisor or supervisee and the impact of that experience upon the evolution of the supervisory relationship. Through pertinent vignettes, this book redresses that lack and provides practical and perceptive insights into both the nature of and how it should be conducted. The emphasis throughout is consonant with Arlow's observation that supervision is essentially and fundamentally a teaching experience.4 The authors eschew theoretical controversies and instead focus on the modes of thinking and attitudes that need to be fostered in a therapist regardless of the specific theoretical approach he is being exposed to or may already espouse (p. 5). The intrinsic power dynamics of the supervisory situation are examined alongside the issues of the supervisee's narcissistic vulnerability and the covert theme of both the supervisor's and supervisee's selfesteem. The authors perceptively trace the developmental phases of and examine the problems that may occur at different stages. As an example they note that there are some supervisees who in the early phase of react to the supervisor initially as a potentially threatening and humiliating authority figure; in her presence they often retreat to a defensive struggle for power. …

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