Interpersonal Aspects of the Supervision of Individual Psychotherapy

Abstract

Both the pleasures and pains of psychotherapy supervision have been described for the three parties--resident, supervisor, and patient--involved in such work. Although both positive and negative aspects have been included in order to be comprehensive, it is clear to those who have engaged in supervision for many years that the pleasures far outweigh the pains for those concerned. A variety of means of facilitating the growth and increasing the knowledge of student psychotherapists have been undertaken. My own experience over 33 years suggests that individual supervision remains the second most important way to become a competent psychotherapist. The first, of course, is to engage in psychotherapy with patients. This paper is an overview of the interpersonal aspects of individual supervision of psychotherapy. When the resident and supervisor bring certain attributes to the supervisory situation, then all the more can be accomplished in their work together. Including both its pleasures and its pains, psychotherapy supervision is a creative and fulfilling undertaking for both residents and their supervisors.

Developing a Training Program to Improve Supervisor-Resident Relationships, Step 1: Defining the Types of Issues

“…5,6,16,18 Current writers emphasize the importance of supervisors and supervisees feeling free to communicate openly with each other, including giving each other personal feedback.…”

“…6,15,19 If the supervisee cannot respect the supervisor as a role model, then the supervisee's potential to learn from the supervisor is impeded, and his or her developmental processes (e.g., es-tablishment of a professional identity) might be delayed. One of the functions of the supervisory process is to help, through role modeling, the resident's transition from student to colleague, thus helping him or her to establish a professional identity.…”

“…2,3 In the medical education literature, other than in psychiatry, very little attention has been paid to the relationship between supervisors and their supervisees. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The few existing studies in this area in medicine indicate that there is room for improvement in supervisor-resident relationships. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The few existing studies in this area in medicine indicate that there is room for improvement in supervisor-resident relationships.…”

Perspectives on supervision in cognitive therapy

“…Indeed, self-disclosure can be an effective supervisory tool (Carifio & Hess, 1987;Alonso & Rutan, 1988;Albott, 1984;Pickering, 1987;Schmidt, 1979;Shapiro & Schiermer, 1993;Greben, 1991). When supervisors share their successes, rough spots, stuck points, and failures with their students, this disclosure paints a balanced view of professionals.…”

Caracterização da população atendida e do processo de supervisão do serviço de psicologia do hospital de base de São José do Rio Preto-SP

“…Alguns estudos, tais como de Greben (1991); Watkins (1994); Kilminster e Jolly (2000) e Whitman (2001), recomendam algumas habilidades e padrões de interação dos supervisores que podem favorecer uma supervisão efetiva, tanto para o supervisionando, quanto para assegurar efeitos positivos no tratamento dos pacientes. Segundo Whitman (2001), com base em sua experiência profissional e em avaliações realizadas por supervisionandos, um bom supervisor deve reservar um tempo exclusivo para a supervisão, apresentar feedback frequentemente, considerar os erros cometidos pelos supervisionandos como experiências bem-vindas de aprendizagem e discutir questões que gerem preocupações para seus discípulos.…”