ABSTRACT

Why do people go to supervision? I suggest therapists welcome supervision as a symbolic container holding therapeutic work with patients. This container, at best, provides a space for exploring theory and practice, emotions, confusions, mistakes; facilitates working through transference and countertransference, positive and negative; mourns failures and celebrates success. In this chapter I discuss symbols, dreams and transformation. I re¯ect on supervision as a symbolic container: how it is formed, succeeds or fails; how it transforms the work of therapy and the supervisory couple. The work of therapy is conceived as a symbolic process even though many times it may seem to be stuck in concrete thinking of patient, therapist and supervisor.