ABSTRACT
The need for training to increase the competence of supervisors for psychotherapists and psychoanalysts has been recognized more and more. By consistently focusing on and helping the therapist to reflect on the combined interaction of patient (patient–therapist) therapist, the supervisor maintains the formal system and can enable the trainee to step out of and observe his or her own system of interacting with the patient. Doing so, the supervisor has also the opportunity to learn more about what is happening during supervision and how to encourage mutual learning. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book highlights that continuous maintenance of boundaries around the task of supervision, keeping an equidistant position, encouraging the trainees to organize the information, and focusing on the patient–therapist/supervisee–supervisor relationship constitutes a mutative learning situation that facilitates learning, irrespective of the type of learning problems.
