ABSTRACT
Studying some historical cases of psychoanalysis, it is indeed striking to find out that this approach to the question of training and supervision has not itself been questioned – or, even worse, has been copied, though the people know that working in such a way has little or adverse effect in the clinic. The 2016 movie Dr Strange is about the case of an arrogant neurosurgeon who loses the ability to use his hands while conducting surgery. The history of supervision in analytical training involved a means of ensuring “authenticity” within a practice which had been taking place since 1925. From Helene Deutsch’s calling supervision “controlled analysis”, to Lacan’s choice to term it “pure analysis”, the desire for knowledge changes in meaning and function when occupied within the position of a clinical supervisor. Supervision is more than a political theme in psychoanalysis and it should be part of the ethics of psychoanalysis.
