Abstract
This paper explores basic tasks involved in the supervisory process, and frequent problems in carrying out these tasks. Basic tasks include clarification of mutual expectations of supervisor and supervisee; the establishment of mutual trust as fundamental for countertransference analysis; “parallel process” exploration and clarification of explicit and implicit theoretical assumptions by both supervisor and supervisee. Frequent problems include the extent of initial evaluation of patients; problems of intervening “without memory or desire”; transference and countertransference diagnoses and interpretive consequences; clarification of affective dominance; interventive shifts with severe psychopathology, and realistic goals of patient, supervisee and supervisor. Limitations to supervision include specific psychopathologies, cognitive limitations, and a generally restricted capacity for empathy by the supervisee.
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Otto F. Kernberg, M. D, Professor of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College.
Address correspondence to: Otto F. Kernberg, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Director, Personality Disorders Institute, New York Presbyterian Hospital - Westchester Division, 21 Bloomingdale Rd., White Plains, NY, 10605, USA.
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Kernberg, O.F. Reflections on Supervision. Am J Psychoanal 79, 265–283 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-019-09197-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-019-09197-z