By Lydia Sterry | Submitted On Febuary, 2019
There are many dimensions to Existential Supervision but maybe some of the important areas involve looking at; the supervisor`s presence in the supervision process, the relationship between the therapist and the supervisor, the process of the supervision and the result of the supervision.
Let’s have a look at what some supervisee’s have said about each one.
(The answers have been adapted from the findings of Marija Vaštakė and Rimantas Kočiūnas, Existential Supervision: Phenomenological Research.)
THE SUPERVISOR`S PRESENCE IN THE SUPERVISION PROCESS:
Worked from a calm and relaxed position:
“It was like a stopping and meeting of myself and my client. The supervisor`s calm presence nearby helped it”
Had a free and spontaneous presence in the supervision process:
“The supervisor`s freedom, spontaneity, non-directive attitude and flexibility helped facilitated the process with my client”
Involved focus, inclusion, curiosity and interest:
“The supervisor listened to me intently, she didn’t interrupt or direct me anywhere. She maybe sometimes specified something. Because of this I was able to “submerge into the case”.
Took the position from “aside” and not from “above”:
“I felt near the supervisor in a comforting phenomenological way. Being near not a “super” person, or a person who is somewhere “above me”, “in a helicopter” type of way, but being together and close...”.
Incorporated an absence of criticism, directive-ness:
“There weren`t accusations or interpretations. Though the supervisor retained his attitude. But it was presented as his attitude, seeing of the situation and not like some kind of explanation of what was really going on”.
Included a daring to be oneself to share what emerges from the “here and now” in the supervision process: (experiences, feelings, thoughts):
“I felt attention was paid to the supervisory relationship, to what was happening at that moment between us in the supervision”.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE THERAPIST AND THE SUPERVISOR:
Worked on a dialogue-based relationship:
“The supervisor wasn`t interpreting, there weren`t any rules from her side as to how it ‘had to be’, or what the correct way was”.
Brought in the importance of non-verbal dialogue:
“My feelings and all my non-verbality were important. Focusing on that helped me to realise the difficulty better”.
Included a feeling of community with the supervisor in the relationship:
“I felt as if I were a ‘co-researcher’ of the therapeutic case”.
THE PROCESS OF THE SUPERVISION:
Included an exploration process that was experienced as “a stopping:”, “a deep pause”, a slow-moving exploration or a state of “immersion” in the process:
“It was like stopping and meeting myself and my client”; “During stopping, in this flash of a deep pause, I understood from somewhere deep inside the essence of my difficulty, I realised and experienced everything better”.
Involved an exploration experience that felt like a free process but with a subtle direction, aim and focus:
“He had a specific way of naming the reality, in the instances when I wandered away in my considerations and I got ‘tangled’, the supervisor attempted to specify. He would ask if we could identify what was maybe happening”.
Elaborated on the process of exploration that felt less about being directed at searching for answers or solutions but more towards the birthing of valuable questions which continue exploration after the supervision ends.
“I didn’t find answers to many questions, they stayed ringing inside me, and that was very valuable because in that way the exploration process continued after the supervision process”.
THE RESULT OF THE SUPERVISION:
Involved an emotional change:
“After the supervision there remained a feeling, not a mental answer, but a feeling and experience that helped me to find contact points with my client”.
Included a delivery of valuable questions instead of receiving an answer:
“I did not find answers to many questions, they stayed ringing inside me, and that was very valuable because in that way the exploration process continued after the supervision process”.
Saw the situation as something new:
“I experienced something very unexpected, something new and very important”.
Gained a deeper awareness of feelings:
“There was a unique perception of the therapy process and of certain aspects of human life. And of course, there was a deep, unexpected awareness of some of my own personal features, feelings, facts of life”.
By reading about these dimensions in Existential supervision, it’s my hope that you’ve gained a little more understanding about what it may involve.
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If you would like to arrange an Existential supervision session, simply contact progressiveprocess@live.com.au or click here.