ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to attempt to theorise phenomena associated with spontaneous symbolism within clinical supervision by asking ‘what is really going on here?’ I will first illustrate the phenomena using a case example taken from my own supervision practice, before critically appraising two potential explanatory clinical theories. I will begin with somatic countertransference, which has been used to explain embodied knowing within the therapeutic frame (Lewis, 1984). I will then consider empathy, and in particular embodied empathy (Dosamantes-Alperson, 1984; Cooper, 2001) as another key theory of relevance to my question.
