{"title":"“Being affected by the other”: psychodynamic supervisors’ experiences of supervisory countertransference","authors":"M. Sant, M. Milton","doi":"10.1080/14753634.2023.2228798","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This qualitative study investigated how psychodynamically-oriented supervisors experienced supervisory countertransference towards their supervisees and their understandings of this phenomenon. Seven supervisors located in the United Kingdom (UK) were recruited. Individual audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews were used to gather the participants’ subjective accounts of this phenomenon. Data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Most of the participants described experiencing supervisory countertransference towards supervisees who were not of the same gender as them. Although definitions of supervisory countertransference have linked this phenomenon to unresolved supervisor issues and blind spots, only one supervisor specifically referred to past experiences that shaped her supervisory countertransference response. Notably, some of the supervisors continued to be affected by their experiences many years after the supervision ended. The study’s findings underscored the importance of attending to and processing perturbing supervisory countertransference. Future research could explore the ways in which supervisory countertransference is shaped by gender dynamics and its contribution to supervisory discord.","PeriodicalId":43801,"journal":{"name":"Psychodynamic Practice","volume":"33 1","pages":"362 - 387"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychodynamic Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14753634.2023.2228798","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This qualitative study investigated how psychodynamically-oriented supervisors experienced supervisory countertransference towards their supervisees and their understandings of this phenomenon. Seven supervisors located in the United Kingdom (UK) were recruited. Individual audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews were used to gather the participants’ subjective accounts of this phenomenon. Data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Most of the participants described experiencing supervisory countertransference towards supervisees who were not of the same gender as them. Although definitions of supervisory countertransference have linked this phenomenon to unresolved supervisor issues and blind spots, only one supervisor specifically referred to past experiences that shaped her supervisory countertransference response. Notably, some of the supervisors continued to be affected by their experiences many years after the supervision ended. The study’s findings underscored the importance of attending to and processing perturbing supervisory countertransference. Future research could explore the ways in which supervisory countertransference is shaped by gender dynamics and its contribution to supervisory discord.
期刊介绍:
Psychodynamic Practice is a journal of counselling, psychotherapy and consultancy and it is written for professionals in all fields who use psychodynamic thinking in their work. The journal explores the relevance of psychodynamic ideas to different occupational settings. It emphasizes setting and application as well as theory and technique and focuses on four broad areas: •Clinical practice •The understanding of group and organisational processes •The use of psychodynamic ideas and methods in different occupational settings (for example, education and training, health care, social work, pastoral care, management and consultancy) •The understanding of social, political and cultural issues