Martin Rock, PhD
Supervision of Problems and Problems in Supervision
Establishing and Maintaining Effective Supervisory Process
Friday, November 17
Register now at icpnyc.org/sicp/
Problems, conflicts, disappointments, even impasses occur frequently in psychotherapy supervision. Any trained therapist, and many analytic candidates and graduate students I talk to, has a story or two of frustration, shame, struggle, and often “repair” as well. Supervision often goes smoothly and both parties feel satisfied and enhanced. However difficulties and conflicts are very common, so much so, that I’d say that they are part of the process. We should even welcome them, because they represent first hand opportunities for both members of the supervision dyad to learn about dissociated aspects of their own and of the therapeutic interaction. But it is crucial that we discuss some good ideas about how to understand and negotiate them. The longer they go on, the more learning is compromised. Recognition and repair of disruptions in the supervisory relationship can deepen and strengthen that relationship. Continued dissociation or suppression can lead to pseudo-supervision or disruption or failure. My aim is to promote reflective thought in both members of the supervisory dyad and to highlight the essential idea that supervision, like psychoanalytic psychotherapy, is based on experiential learning with a responsive partner.
Problems, conflicts, disappointments, even impasses occur frequently in psychotherapy supervision. Any trained therapist, and many analytic candidates and graduate students I talk to, has a story or two of frustration, shame, struggle, and often “repair” as well. Supervision often goes smoothly and both parties feel satisfied and enhanced. However difficulties and conflicts are very common, so much so, that I’d say that they are part of the process. We should even welcome them, because they represent first hand opportunities for both members of the supervision dyad to learn about dissociated aspects of their own and of the therapeutic interaction. But it is crucial that we discuss some good ideas about how to understand and negotiate them. The longer they go on, the more learning is compromised. Recognition and repair of disruptions in the supervisory relationship can deepen and strengthen that relationship. Continued dissociation or suppression can lead to pseudo-supervision or disruption or failure. My aim is to promote reflective thought in both members of the supervisory dyad and to highlight the essential idea that supervision, like psychoanalytic psychotherapy, is based on experiential learning with a responsive partner.
In fact, I think that there is a general principle that underlies the whole endeavor: What is learned in supervision is a function of the interpersonal context in which it is learned. I’ll talk about co-participant dialogue, parallel processes, enactment, transference and countertransference, evaluation anxieties, the teach-treat dilemma, the myth of the supervisory relationship, implicit theories of change, and other basic processes. In addition, I will talk about what and how the supervisee learns, the nature of therapists’ growth in supervision.
Marty Rock is a supervisor in the 4 year, 2 year, and AT programs at ICP and taught supervision seminars at ICP, NIP, and MIP. His book, Psychodynamic Supervision: Perspectives of Supervisors and Supervisees, is a basic text in courses on supervision at graduate schools and psychoanalytic institutes across the country. He is an Emeritus Associate Professor at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University where he taught, supervised and researched the process and outcomes of supervision and psychotherapy for 4 decades. He has presented papers at ICP, NYU Postdoctoral Program, APA Div. 39, The International Interdisciplinary Conference on Clinical Supervision, the Society for Psychotherapy Research, and the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration. Marty is in private practice of psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, couples therapy, and group and individual supervision in NYC.
Register now at icpnyc.org/sicp/
________
________
Friday, November 17
7-9 pm
Doors open at 6:30
In the ICP Library
1841 Broadway, 4th floor, New York, NY 10023 (enter on 60th Street)
2 CE credits are pending for each lecture. CE credits are issued under the auspices of The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy.
To register, go to icpnyc.org/sicp/
If you scroll down, you will see the Full Series Pass and the individual lectures.
________
Fees
Full Series Pass
Current trainee or student $70 | SICP Member $120 | General Admission $140
Individual Lectures
Current trainee or student $20 | SICP Member $35 | General Admission $40
Please note--CE applications are pending for all lectures and CE credits will be offered at no additional fee.
$10 surcharge for registration at the door.
________
With questions about lectures, contact Barbara Bolas, PhD at sicp.lectures.barbara@gmail.com
For information on joining SICP or the SICP mailing list, contact Betsy Levine at sicp.lectures@gmail.com
