The separation-individuation process in psychotherapy supervision.

Conceptualizes the separation–individuation process in psychotherapy supervision, using the separation–individuation phase of development described by M. Mahler as a metaphor. Symbiosis, differentiation, practicing, rapprochement, and object constancy are each discussed with respect to the supervisor and the supervisee. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The parallel process in clinical supervision with a schizophrenic client

The authors analyze a male nurse's account of how he experienced his interaction with a female schizophrenic client during sessions of systematic clinical supervision. Notes taken during 15 sessions were analyzed by means of open coding. The analysis revealed the importance of being aware of the parallel process that occurs among the client, the primary nurse, and the unit staff.     

Mutuality in psychotherapy supervision.

Contends that mutuality, the quality of shared participation and interchange of thoughts and feelings, is a key element of the supervisory relationship in general and a specific component in contracting for supervision and in developing therapeutic skills. It is suggested that there is a parallel between the processes of supervision and psychotherapy. Supervisor–supervisee dialogs are included to illustrate mutuality in learning, in contracts, in assessment, in interventions, and in process monitoring. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The occurrence of mirroring in psychotherapy supervision.

Illustrates, in a case study of a 42-yr-old woman, known factors that facilitate mirroring (e.g., therapeutic blind spots, unconscious identifications, temporary regressions in therapist or supervisor) and describes the previously unrecognized impact of the therapeutic milieu on the occurrence of mirroring. Consideration of the therapeutic milieu allows the identification of situations in which mirroring is most likely to occur and those in which mirroring can be falsely suspected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The experience of shame in psychotherapy supervision.

Notes that shame is a complex and powerful experience that is difficult for therapists to address. The purpose of this article is to help therapists on both sides of the supervision dyad have a better understanding of shame and its defenses. In order to elucidate the inevitable shame that arises in supervision, this article first describes the nature of shame, beginning with its early manifestations in interpersonal relationships with primary caregivers. It also includes a short section on the adaptive nature of shame. Because individuals develop characteristic ways of coping with it, it is suggested that shame may be concealed from oneself and others through withdrawal, avoidance, attack on self, and attack on others. These characteristic reactions to shame are discussed in detail because they influence how shame is manifested. Four vignettes illustrate how each defensive reaction may be manifested in supervision, and suggestions for minimizing the adverse impact of shame are proffered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characterological resistances in psychotherapy supervision.

A developmental model is used to provide greater understanding of the phenomena of resistance in psychotherapy supervision. Some underlying developmental or characterological issues that may cause resistance include autonomy, identity, basic trust, shame, and narcissism. The manifestations of and approaches for dealing with characterological resistances are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shame and guilt in psychotherapy supervision.

Examines the vulnerability to shame and humiliation of clinical trainees, particularly as it emerges in the course of psychotherapy supervision. It is contended that shame in supervision is generated from 4 major contributing factors: (1) the learning regression, (2) the patient population, (3) the supervisor's management of the supervisory hour, and (4) transference and countertransference in supervision. Suggestions are given for reducing the shame that might compromise the professional well-being of neophyte clinicians and their supervisors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pathological attachment styles in psychotherapy supervision.

Suggests that attachment style has relevance for understanding and working with psychotherapy supervisees. Drawing from the work of J. Bowlby (1969, 1973), 3 pathological attachment styles (compulsive self-reliance, anxious attachment, and compulsive care-giving) are identified, and some of the ways in which they can be manifested by supervisees are considered. A case example, which focuses on supervisee compulsive self-reliance, is presented. Attention is also briefly given to examining some of the issues, concerns, and problems that pathologically attached supervisees raise for psychotherapy supervisors in particular, and doctoral training programs in general. It is suggested that supervisors should act with decisiveness and expediency in such cases to extricate themselves from such enmeshing relationships and to minimize damage to the supervisee's patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Advances in psychotherapy supervision: Introduction.

Psychologists tend to take psychotherapy supervision for granted. This is especially puzzling when they discover that 55% of academic clinicians spent between 10% and 29% of their time in supervision and another 7% claim to spend over 30% of their time so engaged. As recently as 10 years ago, few and scattered materials existed in the literature to guide the conscientious supervisor, but more materials have recently become available, including books, a journal devoted to supervision, and workshops offered at regional and national conventions. Given these developments, it is fitting that psychologists take stock of the field of psychotherapy supervision. Toward this end, several people who have worked in a particular area were asked to prepare either a review of the area or a seminal treatment of a topic in the area. The articles that follow are the result. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical issues in the supervision of psychotherapy.

Supervision is the accepted training model for the teaching and learning of psychotherapeutic skills. Although standards of ethical behavior between a psychotherapist and client have been established, specific guidelines for ethical behavior between a supervisor and trainee have not been delineated. Given the importance of the supervisory relationship in the development of competent psychotherapists, the relatively powerless and dependent position of the trainee, and the potential occurrence of therapylike experiences in supervision, the development of guidelines outlining the rights of trainees and responsibilities of supervisors is indicated. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role psychodynamics in psychotherapy supervision

Supervision of the female psychotherapy neophyte is discussed in relation to sex role-exacerbated ambivalence toward the transition from classroom passive-dependency to self-reliance as a professional clinician. Supervisors are alerted to hostile-dependent strategies, such as seductive flattery, that serve immediate ego-protective needs but ultimately block the attainment of fuller professional functioning.     

Internet and video technology in psychotherapy supervision and training.

The seven articles in this special section on the use of Internet and video technology represent the latest growth on one branch of the increasingly prolific and differentiated work in the technology of psychotherapy. In addition to the work presented here on video and the Internet applications to supervision and training, information technology is changing the field of psychotherapy through computer assisted therapies and virtual reality interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The process of psychotherapy: An essential element.

Describes an essential cognitive element that determines the course of successful psychotherapy. The origin of the structure and function of this element depends on biological and social factors present during the developmental years. Its functioning in the process of psychotherapy depends on the freedom of the person seeking help to participate actively and to have some responsibility for direction. Three identifiable stages characterize its function: (1) perceptual-explorative (trial-and-error behavior), (2) provenience-causative (perceptual distortion and search for origin or cause of the problem), and (3) hypothetico-deductive (development of hypotheses leading to solution). Attention to this essential element reveals points of progress during therapy, deficits causing delays or blocks in progress, importance of cognitive ability in the process, and a base for empirical investigations of the process of psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competency in integrative psychotherapy: Perspectives on training and supervision.

Increasingly, many psychotherapists identify with an integrative approach to psychotherapy. In recent years, more attention has been directed toward the operationalization and evaluation of competence in professional psychology and health care service delivery. Aspects of integrative psychotherapy competency may differ from competency in other psychotherapy orientations, although convergence is more often the case. Despite the potential differences, there exist very few formal training programs or guidelines to systematically guide clinicians in developing a competent integrative practice. This paper attempts to distill the essential elements of competent integrative psychotherapy practice and focuses on how these might be developed in training and supervision. We address most of these complex issues from a specific integrative perspective: principle-based assimilative integration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental model for teaching and learning in psychotherapy supervision.

Contends that supervision of psychotherapy is a complicated responsibility because the supervisor's commitment is divided between supporting the growth of the student and protecting the welfare of the client. The phenomenon of the treatment relationship can be obscured by parallel processes in the supervision. A model based on a set of developmental crises that reflect stages of learning and maturation in therapist growth is proposed. Crises in learning psychotherapy include (1) the demand for wide-ranging tolerance of ambiguity, (2) recognition and acceptance of the limits of one's capacity to offer therapeutic conditions, (3) the discovery of therapy as deep communication, and (4) the emergence of a conceptual set in which a variety of models of therapeutic intervention are related to the needs of varying patients. It is suggested that the behavior of the supervisor in dealing with problems in supervised psychotherapy is the real modeling. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A process conception of psychotherapy.

"Individuals move… not from a fixity or homeostasis through change to a new fixity, though such a process is indeed possible. But much the more significant continuum is from fixity to changingness, from rigid structure to flow, from stasis to process." The intent of the paper is to consider "the process of psychotherapy, or the process by which personality change takes place." 7 stages of the process are outlined. "The process involves a loosening of feelings. From feelings which are unrecognized, unowned, unexpressed, the client moves toward a flow in which ever-changing feelings are experienced in the moment, knowingly and acceptingly, and may be accurately expressed." Many aspects of the process are discussed. In the course of psychotherapy the individual "has changed; but, what seems more significant, he has become an integrated process of changingness." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The evaluation of process and outcome in individual child psychotherapy.

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the use of an objective method for the evaluation of therapy process and outcome in cases of individual child psychotherapy. Fourteen children ranging in age from 4 to 6 years were videotaped during the first and eighth sessions in interaction with their therapists. Approximately half the children received psychodynamic play therapy whereas the other half received client-centered play therapy. Using the Play Therapy Observational Instrument (PTOI) of Howe & Silvern (1981), videotapes were scored on 19 items. Data was reduced to 3 clusters: emotional discomfort, quality of interaction with the therapist, and beneficial fantasy play. No significant differences were obtained between therapeutic approaches. However, the PTOI was found to be sensitive to mean behavioral and verbal changes in the children from session one to session eight. Hence it appears that the PTOI scales offer clinicians a method of reviewing, tracking and assessing the process and outcome of their therapy work with children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of psychotherapy supervision on therapist orientation and values.

Research has suggested that psychotherapy skills are developed and valued depending in part on the level of trainee experience. Beginning trainees tend to value and benefit from supervisor support, whereas later trainees tend to gravitate toward technical guidance. This cycle may be repeated with continuing experience. We present illustrative data from our own research to suggest that several years after training, early supervisory experiences may still exert an effect on one's theoretical position. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Issues and methods in psychotherapy process research.

Some of the problems and issues that have characterized process research in psychotherapy are discussed, as is the complexity of research that attempts to combine process and outcome adequately. The diversity of topics studied, the variety of scales used, the individual theoretical constructs investigated, the investigation of single process variables, and the relative lack of replication have made integration of findings difficult. It is suggested that more than one therapeutic orientation be studied in a specific project in order that some type of control be included. Although statistically significant correlations between selected process variables and measures of outcome have been secured, proof of causality remains to be demonstrated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)