ABSTRACT
In clinical supervision, supervisor and supervisee/therapist engage in a teaching/learning relationship with an established explicit contract, standard frame, agreed payment schedule, and accepted format for the case presentation. Experiencing containment in supervision, the therapist can manage her feelings, gather her thoughts, and clear the path to engage in an understanding and thinking relationship with her patient. Developing a containing relationship in supervision allows the supervisee to build the capacity not only to contain her own feelings but also to begin to understand dynamic interactions in the dyad. Containment in supervision is a critical component of supervision. There will be times when therapist feelings spill over and project into the patient. This chapter discusses an example from the supervision that convinced the author of the value of supervision for even an experienced clinician. It highlights the fragility of knowledge and the need to continue to think together, learn from experience, discover patients anew, and develop ourselves as therapists.
