ABSTRACT
I had studied object relations theory with Mannie years earlier, and then sought him out because he was the guru of the relational movement as the track was being launched at New York University. I had already had supervision with numerous of the program’s leading supervisors, but thought I should get to know Mannie’s ways of working first-hand. What I remember about my supervision with Mannie is how totally present he was, and the intensity of his listening and really getting my patient. I recall sitting at a lunch with him some years after the supervision, when he asked me how the patient was doing. He clearly had a sharp memory of my patient, even years after the supervision. Mannie also worked with a different method than I had become used to, even among interpersonal and relational supervisors. He was much more likely to purposefully ask questions that seemed to come out of the blue, or to interrupt a patient’s flow with what at first seemed like a non sequitur. Mannie did this purposefully, especially to break up an obsessional or overly linear mode of thought. These questions also focused on affect, feeling, and relationship, and so highlighted emotion over obsessional or intellectual rationality.
