ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects on the supervision of clinical work with gay and lesbian patients and therapists (LGBTQ+). The author argues that the inclusion in supervisory thinking and exploration of the sexual identity of each participant in the process (supervisor and supervisee, as well as patient) is vital in order to deepen the scope of supervisory discussion. The idea of the supervisor’s use of self, including countertransference, is linked with Ogden’s notion of “dreaming up the patient” in supervision (Ogden, 2005). The historical background of discrimination and oppression of sexual minorities within society and equally within psychoanalytic practice is referenced as a meaningful context. There follows an examination of supervisory dynamics illustrated through various examples of work with lesbian and gay patients, working with both gay/lesbian and heterosexual therapists, in both generic and specialist LGBTQ+ settings. Issues of identification, desire. and the erotic are reflected on as significant components of the therapeutic and supervisory work. The notion of analytic neutrality is seen as existing in a challenging tension with the potential benefits of use of sexual self within supervision.
