ABSTRACT
Most art therapists who find themselves supervising others have not been trained in supervision per se, any more than the majority of art therapists who find themselves educating others have been trained in teaching. The requirements for “alternate entry,” which reflect the fact that courses in supervision are rarely part of art therapists’ formal education, are the documentation of 36 months and 500 hours of experience supervising art therapists. Supervision in art therapy is a peculiar kind of relationship in which one individual agrees to help another to develop clinical skills, but without leading by the hand, showing how, or even telling in so many words. As with art therapy, supervision is an activity in which each individual needs to develop her own style of work, a way of relating that is syntonic for her. In such cases, art can be as powerful a tool in supervision as it is in both assessment and therapy.
