Critical Events in Psychotherapy Supervision: An Interpersonal Approach

Critical Events in Psychotherapy Supervision helps supervisors understand the dilemmas they most frequently encounter when supervising psychotherapist trainees. Such dilemmas may include ambiguity about roles, misunderstandings related to cultural background and gender, problematic attitudes and behavior, skill deficits, countertransference, and sexual attraction to clients. Resolving these difficulties effectively is particularly important in the supervisor-supervisee relationship, because doing so models positive ways of handling interactions with clients. Drawing on their extensive supervisory experience, the authors propose a model for turning problems into opportunities for growth. By closely analyzing transcripts of dialogs between trainees and supervisors, they show how dilemmas can be identified, mutually explored, and overcome. The dialogs make for fascinating reading and illustrate a range of situations commonly encountered during the supervision of mental health professionals. This book offers solutions for academic and clinical supervisors in fields such as counseling and guidance, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, social work, and psychiatric nursing.