Behind the (Virtual) Mirror: Online Live Supervision in Couple and Family Therapy |
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Authors: | Yochay Nadan Razi Shachar Daniella Cramer Tali Leshem Darylle Levenbach Rinat Rozen Nurit Salton Saviona Cramer |
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Institution: | Barcai Institute of Family, Couple, and Narrative Therapy, Tel Aviv, Israel |
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Abstract: | Online therapy and supervision, a rapidly rising practice in couple and family therapy, has been the subject of a growing body of literature. From its early days, family therapy training has included live supervision, which has typically been conducted by a supervisor and a team of trainees situated on the other side of a one-way mirror. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, we—the staff of supervisors at the Barcai Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel—were compelled to find solutions to continue meeting with clients and to provide supervision for family therapy trainees. To this end, we have shifted our live supervision courses (“practicums”) to the virtual arena, adapting the popular application “Zoom” into what we call “PractiZoom.” Based on over 100 PractiZoom sessions conducted between March and May 2020, involving 14 supervisors and 28 therapists-in-training and their clients, the article reflects on this pioneering online practicum for the online live supervision of therapists with geographically distributed participants. In this article, we outline our operational methods and adaptations for conducting live behind-the-mirror supervision online. Following a short theoretical background, we outline the process of online live supervision, discuss our reflections and those of our trainees on the challenges and possibilities it poses, and offer a number of preliminary conclusions and recommendations. |
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Keywords: | Live Supervision Online Therapy Technology-Assisted Counseling Cyber Supervision Outsider Witness Group supervisión en vivo terapia en línea terapia asistida por tecnología cibersupervisión grupo de testigos externos 现场监督 在线治疗 技术辅助咨询 网络督导 外部人员见证组 |
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