Response to Farad Dalal’s ‘The ethics of supervision’

Au contraire . . . A reply to Claire Bacha’s response to ‘The ethics of supervision’

“…The very fact that you own up to inhabiting this position, shows that my characterizations of the classical analyst is not the ‘straw man’ that you declare it to be (Bacha, 2021), but a concrete and substantial living breathing being as embodied by you yourself. I say this on the basis of the declarations and assertions you have made in your response.…”

“…You then claim: 'The therapist-patient/client relationship is neither reciprocal nor mutual. It is co-created' (Bacha, 2021). As you have ruled reciprocity and mutuality out of the picture, I have to ask you, how then is the relationship co-created?…”

“…For example, when you say that ‘psychoanalytic therapy goes only one way , and thus the supervision tends to go one way as well’ (Bacha, 2021). This is the very position that I am challenging, this being the authoritarian stance which you seem to embody through your response; you are the one that knows, and the supervisee is the one that does not know and cannot know, until you have taught them to know, and most importantly, taught them what to know .…”

“…This is the very position that I am challenging, this being the authoritarian stance which you seem to embody through your response; you are the one that knows, and the supervisee is the one that does not know and cannot know, until you have taught them to know, and most importantly, taught them what to know . This is further exemplified when you say ‘I welcome the critical thinking once I know that the trainee has been able to think “enough” to try out the “analytic stance”, “boundaries” and other elements of group analytic technique’ (Bacha, 2021). Here, you appear to be saying that you welcome the trainee’s thinking, but only after it accords with your thinking.…”

“…I do not dismiss the value and necessity of this, but think it to be a shadow of what could be possible. As you say, for you the supervision process is a one way street: ‘psychoanalytic therapy goes only one way, and thus the supervision tends to go one way as well’ (Bacha, 2021).…”