The competent psychoanalytic supervisor: Some thoughts about supervision competences for accountable practice and training

What are the competences required to satisfactorily practice effective or “good enough” psychoanalytic supervision? In this paper, I would like to consider that question. Over the past approximate 15-year period, increasing attention has been directed toward more specifically identifying and defining the components of competent psychoanalytic practice. But any parallel attention toward identifying and defining the components of competent psychoanalytic supervision practice has, in comparison, been sorely limited if not virtually absent. If we are to best practice competent psychoanalytic supervision and best train future psychoanalytic supervisors for competent practice, effort needs to be made to concretely delineate the competences that are requisite for such practice. In what follows, I present and adapt six broad-based families of internationally relevant supervision competence areas for use in psychoanalytic supervision: (1) knowledge about/understanding of psychoanalytic supervision models, methods, and intervention; (2) knowledge about/skill in attending to matters of ethical, legal, and professional concern; (3) knowledge about/skill in managing psychoanalytic supervision relationship processes; (4) knowledge about/skill in conducting psychoanalytic supervisory assessment and evaluation; (5) knowledge about/skill in fostering attention to difference and diversity; and (6) openness to/utilization of a self-reflective, self-assessment stance in psychoanalytic supervision. Although by no means an exhaustive list, 30 supervision competences (five per family) are proposed as significant for guiding competent psychoanalytic supervision practice and supervisor training, and a brief explanatory comment is offered in support of each broad-based family of competences.     

A Preliminary Investigation of the Relationship Between Emotion Dysregulation and Partner Violence Perpetration Among Individuals with PTSD and Alcohol Dependence

This study examines the link between emotion dysregulation and intimate partner violence (IPV) among 77 individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence. Participants were recruited from a residential substance abuse treatment program as part of the eligibility screening for an institutional review board approved clinical trial examining the efficacy of an exposure-based intervention in individuals dually diagnosed with alcohol dependence and PTSD. Participants reported on PTSD symptoms, alcohol use disorder symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and physical and verbal aggression in their intimate relationships during the past year. Findings demonstrated that difficulties with emotion regulation are associated with physical and verbal IPV perpetration in a clinical sample. Although facets of emotion regulation emerged as significant predictors of IPV in the models, alcohol and PTSD symptom severity did not emerge as predictors of IPV. These findings suggest targeted emotion regulation skills training could benefit substance abusers who engage in IPV and that emotion dysregulation might be an important target for future research aimed at understanding elevated rates of IPV perpetration in mental health samples.     

Multicultural web-based motivational interviewing for clients with a first-time DUI offense

Culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions are needed to reduce the risk of driving under the influence (DUI) recidivism among diverse populations. Using core elements of Motivational Interviewing, we developed a culturally relevant web-MI intervention (web-MI) in English and Spanish to serve as a standalone or adjunctive program in DUI educational settings and evaluated its feasibility and acceptability among clients with first-time DUI offenses. We conducted an iterative formative assessment using focus groups with staff (n = 8) and clients (n = 27), and usability interviews with clients (n = 21). Adapting MI for the web was widely accepted by staff and clients. Clients stated the web-MI was engaging, interactive and personal, and felt more comfortable than past classes and programs. Spanish-speaking clients felt less shame, embarrassment, and discomfort with the web-MI compared to other in-person groups. Results support the viability of web-MI for DUI clients at risk for recidivism and highlight the importance of adapting the intervention for diverse populations. Key decisions used to develop the web-MI are discussed.     

Indices of Laterality in Turner Syndrome

The present study explored the utility of manual laterality in predicting verbal and visual-spatial functioning and educational placement among girls and adolescents with Turner syndrome (TS). A significant curvilinear relationship emerged between derived Performance Intelligence Quotient (PIQ) and motor skill laterality such that either very strong or very weak laterality was less advantageous for visual-spatial skills than moderate laterality. A significant negative correlation, but no curvilinear relation, emerged between derived Verbal Intelligence Quotient (VIQ) and degree of motor skill laterality, with more strongly lateralized participants showing lower verbal skills than weakly lateralized participants. Hand preference category showed no significant relationships with VIQ, PIQ, or educational placement.     

When the ends outweigh the means: Mood and level of identification in depression

Research in healthy controls has found that mood influences cognitive processing via level of action identification: happy moods are associated with global and abstract processing; sad moods are associated with local and concrete processing. However, this pattern seems inconsistent with the high level of abstract processing observed in depressed patients, leading Watkins (2008, 2010) to hypothesise that the association between mood and level of goal/action identification is impaired in depression. We tested this hypothesis by measuring level of identification on the Behavioural Identification Form after happy and sad mood inductions in never-depressed controls and currently depressed patients. Participants used increasingly concrete action identifications as they became sadder and less happy, but this effect was moderated by depression status. Consistent with Watkins' (2008) hypothesis, increases in sad mood and decreases in happiness were associated with shifts towards the use of more concrete action identifications in never-depressed individuals, but not in depressed patients. These findings suggest that the putatively adaptive association between mood and level of identification is impaired in major depression.