Bidirectional Parallel Process in Training Supervision: Interactions of the Conscious and Unconscious within the Supervision Triad

AbstractThere is growing recognition that parallel processes are central components of supervision and may be a supervisor ’s primary source of data about a client’s and a therapist’s unconscious processes and the ongoing therapeutic relationship between them. The term “parallel processes” refers to the process through which unconscious conflict emerges within one dyad (supervisor–supervisee or supervisee– client) and then becomes reflected or re-enacted in another dyad of the triangle. This paper reviews the literature on parallel processes in social work, according to relational theory. Illustrated here are two case examples featuring particular types of unconscious processes generated within the su pervision triad (supervisor, student, and client). In one case the process arose in treatment and was re-enacted in a supervision setting, and in the other case it arose in supervision and was re-enacted in treatment sessions. When analyzed within the setting of group supervision for supervisors-in- training these examples demonstrate some of the core components of bidirectional parallel processes in supervision and their application to social work field education. We used the relational approach and its clinical applications to help supervisors understand the student–client relationship, as well as their own involvement in the intricate interactions that develop between client and student and between student and supervisor. The examples also illustrate how the l...
Source: Clinical Social Work Journal - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research