ABSTRACT
Conversations with trainees on supervision courses often reveal deep anxieties about the power and authority of the supervisor, with fears that the supervisor's beliefs and ideas, if expressed too robustly, will inevitably prevail over the supervisee's. Some strongly held beliefs, such as a commitment to justice, to high ethical standards of clinical practice, openness to the views of others, a belief in dialogue and inclusion, are easy to incorporate in the ethos of a systemic supervision group. David Campbell and Charlotte Burck wrote, trainee supervisors are often very interested to explore with tutors how they themselves use personal resonances in a reflexive way and they ask questions about what occasions a supervisor can use self disclosure. Supervisors are more likely to describe the activities that can be generalised in order to be of use to other supervisors, but the attempt to de-centre the supervisor's position can ignore the likelihood that those at the receiving end might tell a different tale.
