Focus and process in supervision

Key dimensions of the supervisory process are not fully articulated in the literature or in the practice of supervision. Three particular areas are identified: the purpose of supervision, the importance of the supervisory relationship, and the development of competence. In relation to purpose, it is suggested that a superordinate focus should be on the 'quality of service' to the client. The supervisory relationship is discussed in terms of a process which unfolds over time through a series of stages. The challenge of defining competence is reviewed within a framework of developing 'reflective practitioners'.     

Parallel process in supervision

This paper addresses the concept of parallel process and its application in clinical supervision. Parallels between therapy and supervision are examined as well as some of the key issues surrounding the use of parallel process as a supervisory intervention. Although there is a need for more investigation to explain and support this concept further, the authors would argue that parallel process interventions in supervision can enhance the supervisory process and the task of teaching and learning for both the supervisee and supervisor. A case example is provided to demonstrate the parallel process in supervision and its potential as a facilitative intervention.     

The helping process in group therapy: A review and discussion

The essential activity of group therapy consists of members taking an interest in each other by asking questions, showing concern, and conveying understanding. When members have not done this it has often been taken as a sign of resistance. A review of the research on helping suggests that there are four social factors that affect assistance giving in groups: 1) ambiguity-often people fail to give help because they are uncertain about who should give it, what should be done, and how it should be done; 2) often help is not given because of the way in which problems are presented; 3) the social comparisons that individuals make affect help-giving; and 4) there are costs associated with providing assistance. This discussion suggests that leaders can facilitate interaction among group members as teachers who clarify and as indirect helpers who redirect concerns back to group members.     

Primitive group process and therapist technique: An approach to short-term inpatient group therapy

In this paper seven formations of primitive group life are portrayed: the cocoon group and two pathological subformations within it — the fusion phenomenon and the isolation phenomenon; the symbiotic group; the emerging identities group; the common griping group; and the give- and- take group. Three broad categories of technical intervention are outlined for treating primitive groups depending upon which formation is occurring: enhancement of group safety; advancement of identity formation; and encouragement of discussion. The thesis of this paper is that therapists can work more comfortably and successfully in primitive groups with an awareness of primitive group life and with the use of therapist responses that address themselves to primitive levels of experience.     

Gender in family therapy supervision

While gender has taken its place as a fundamental construct in family therapy theory, little has been written about gender in family therapy supervision. This paper attempts to redefine gender as it pertains to families, family therapy, and family therapy supervision; call attention to aspects of gender as they apply to training in family therapy and family therapy supervision; and suggest ways that family therapy supervisors can sensitize themselves to issues of gender so that they can be more effective in supervision.The author gratefully acknowledges her husband, Victor Nelson, STM, and Eric McCollum, PhD, for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper and for helping with the idea that men are raised to fix things, women to make them better.     

Interpersonal exposure to danger and risk-taking in the group therapy process]

The writer singles out from the complexities of the group psychotherapeutic process the dynamic pair: inter-personal exposure to danger and the taking of risk. According to his empirical experience and tests the degree of risk-taking is a good parameter for assessing the psychotherapeutic process. For this purpose the inter-action matrix devised by Hill proves itself most useful.     

Group supervision and the psychoanalytic process

This article attempts to elucidate the psychodynamics of group supervision of group psychotherapists. The significance of the supervisory setting is explored with a particular emphasis on the frame. The regressive interactions in group supervision are regarded as enactments, which are conceptualized as nonverbal communications that are covertly transmitted. Enactments offer a link between the present group (supervisory group) and the absent group (the therapy group that is being supervised). The relationships between the experiential and didactic components of group supervision are also addressed. Clinical vignettes illustrate the interplay between the present and the absent group focusing on the supervisor's interventions.     

Parallel process and projective identification in psychoanalytic supervision

In the present paper I explore the notion of the parallel process, a controversial concept in psychoanalytic supervision. I suggest that the parallel process is essentially the operation of the defensive process of projective identification, which in some quarters is similarly viewed with skepticism and/or is mistakenly seen as primarily a malignant defense operating exclusively in severe character pathology (Kernberg, 1975; Mendelsohn, 2009). Further, I present several vignettes of psychoanalytic supervision where a series of parallel processes occurred, and I suggest that these parallel enactments are the result of the projective identifications which stimulated them. I agree with critical writers who say that simply suggesting the presence of a parallel process in the supervision adds no new information to the supervision, but I show how an exploration of the parallel enactments, which includes (1) exploring the patient-therapist dyadic dynamics, (2) a narrowly focused exploration of the dynamics of the therapist/presenter, and (3) and an exploration of the dynamics of the therapist-supervisor dyad, can enrich the treatment, as well as the supervision. Finally I suggest that while the projective identification that occurs in the supervisory dyad does not always lead to a parallel process, every parallel process is the result of projective identification(s). I further suggest that while every parallel process does not lead to an enactment via projective identification, enactments can only occur via the parallel process instigated by projective identification.     

Attitude polarization,familiarization and group process

Our purpose was to gain insight into the processes linking interaction and attitude polarization. We wished to determine whether polarization might occur in an individual situation, during the task of familiarization with the object. Two experiments were undertaken, one relating to an individual situation and the other involving a group situation. No polarization took place in the individual situation. In addition as a result of the coercive normative pressure induced in the course of the group discussion, we were able to observe unwilling agreement by individuals, provoking in turn a noticeable regression during the post-consensus.