Visual and active supervision

Therapists are often thrust into supervisory positions with little preparation. Here is a book that gives them not only the basics of supervision but also creative, active techniques to open up new perspectives on therapeutic situations. Both beginning and experienced supervisors - whether psychologists, social workers, counselors, psychiatrists, or family therapists - will find the discussion and many case illustrations enriching. To help their trainees develop "clinical wisdom" - timing, judgment, and a deep understanding of therapeutic possibility - supervisors play several roles. In turn, they may be teachers, facilitators, consultants, or evaluators. The author defines these roles, as well as their associated functions and precepts, and demonstrates the supervisory stance in each role. Supervisors also focus on one of six areas, three from the therapy system and three from the supervisory system. The adept supervisor will help the trainee-therapist take the experiential learning from one arena and apply it in another. Sometimes trainees are restrained from "hearing" what their supervisor says; the supervisor's advice does not fit with their "map of the world." Moreover, using words alone, supervisees cannot surprise themselves - they have heard it all before. At those times, in particular, the author recommends visual and active techniques. These methods allow multiple and even contradictory maps or realities to be presented, opening trainees' eyes to new possibilities. Meaning becomes intensely personal, yet systemic. Dramatic and narrative enactments of therapeutic dilemmas, often using evocative objects (for example, magnets of horses, Superman, or the Virgin Mary), capture such elusive elements as closeness, boundaries, and position, which are the very meat of therapy.