The Supervisory Encounter fills a gaping void in the literature pertaining to psychotherapy education. There have been very few attempts to explore the challenges of psychodynamic supervision in any comprehensive way, and the more classic literature on the subject has become dated and less applicable to the range of current supervisory practice. The Supervisory Encounter not only updates the remarkably small literature but also expands the field conceptually. This book, newly available in paperback, addresses the traditional controversies in psychotherapy supervision and develops new areas related to cognitive learning styles.

After a brief introduction, the first chapter reviews the history of psychotherapy supervision, emphasizing its origins in the psychoanalytic movement. This historical review exposes the roots of controversy over the distinction between didactic supervision and self-revealing, quasi-therapeutic supervision. Previous major works on supervision are briefly discussed, and the need for this book becomes very clear. One interesting parallel between therapeutic technique and supervision is related to the authoritarian role of the analyst/therapist/supervisor. The older books on supervision assumed that the authoritative stance by the supervisor was expected, but this book moves toward supervision as a process of mutual discovery. This shift to a cooperative effort resembles discussion in the psychoanalytic literature about the analyst's real or perceived authority in the treatment. This debate is still alive, but in any case the days of unquestioned authority for the analyst seem to have passed. And now perhaps any unquestioned authority of the supervisor deserves a similar scrutiny. Despite thought-provoking discussion of the pertinent history of supervision, this first chapter could be skipped by the reader in search of practical guidance.

The remainder of the book forms a building, coherent unit. The next chapter examines the opening phase of supervision. Such issues as the arrangements for the supervision, the importance of exploring the supervisee's expectations, and the establishment of a safe environment for the supervisory dialogue are discussed. Despite the effort to distinguish supervision from therapy, the similarities are obvious. The supervisor's unfamiliarity with being a teacher instead of a therapist can become conflictual when evaluations are necessary. What moves this chapter (and the rest of the book) forward are the case examples. Concisely described supervisory situations illustrate the various points the authors make.

The third and fourth chapters describe cognitive tasks related to learning psychotherapy. The therapists' job requires the use of inductive, associative, creative, and self-reflective thinking. The authors chose these four types of thought process and examine each in detail. These modes of thought are related to the work of psychotherapy in great detail. Many case examples illustrating the weaknesses of some supervisees in each of these areas and how supervision can assist in the development of each mode of thought. This section of the book is very original and would itself alone be a major contribution to the literature.

The fifth chapter is entitled "How Personal Should Supervision Be?" The question is not answered in a prescriptive way. Instead, the authors discuss the range of possible answers while noting important differences among therapy, psychotherapy supervision, and supervision of other professional activities. This issue is negotiated in each psychotherapy supervision and represents a large part of the art of supervision. Once again case examples enliven the discussion and depict such provocative situations as supervisees who spontaneously self-reveal, perhaps too much. The issues on supervision of countertransference raised in this chapter are revisited as a major theme frequently through the remainder of the book.

The next chapter deals with affect and how to deal with the strong emotions raised in treatment in the most educational way. Affect can be assessed and titrated for the optimal learning experience. New therapists may need special attention to their level of affect and its potentially disruptive effects. In addition, exploration of the supervisee's affect is an especially difficult endeavor, since it necessitates some degree of self- revelation.

The seventh chapter describes a range of supervisory interventions. Modeling can be intentional or unintentional, and it happens very naturally. The problem is that some models can be idealized and thereby stunt further growth as a therapist. Didactic instruction involves the supervisor simply imparting information. This necessary ingredient would be obvious, as the exclusive intervention makes a stale supervision. Socratic questioning encourages active exploration by the learner. This type of open- ended questioning is demanding of the supervisee, intellectually and emotionally, since the question can broach the limits of their knowledge and comfort level in self-revelation. If there is little sense of judgment or hovering expectations, this intervention can carry a supervision very far. Encouragement and permission are supervisory interventions that especially help new, inhibited therapists recognize how they may work with their patients. The permission and encouragement to think and to feel freely as a therapist must be matched with a sense of limits about proper conduct and tactful communication with patients. Clarification as an intervention highlights something the therapist may not see clearly as an area for further work. A clarification of affect might be as simple as "You seem irritated with this patient." Such shifts of focus from the patient to the therapist once again raise the issues of personal boundaries in supervision, and the supervisor must be mindful of the supervisee's sensitivities. Beyond clarification, interpretation is even more potentially problematic in heightening the supervisee's defenses. Interpretation as a supervisory intervention is also very difficult since typically the supervisor has a very limited historical and affective database on the supervisee from which to draw any interpretive remark. Here case examples do illustrate how an interpretation could be potentially useful in some supervisions.

The next two chapters look at the issues of self-esteem for the supervisee and how the supervisor can maintain the supervisee's self esteem while pushing forward in the supervisory process. Threats to self-esteem and responses to injuries by supervisees are considered with generous case material. Supervisory interventions not only restore self-esteem after injury, but also the goal of supervision is to build a stable sense of self- esteem through achievement of competence as a therapist.

The final chapter covers the topic of termination of supervision. Like termination of treatment, the termination of supervision can cast its meaning. Through the case examples and discussion, one gets the impression that termination may be one of the most difficult things to do well as a supervisor. My personal experience as supervisee and supervisor confirms this impression, and the chapter makes an important contribution to understanding the complications and predicaments that make termination so complex.

This book should be read by any serious psychotherapy supervisor and should be studied by anyone who has a professional stake in psychotherapy or psychoanalytic education. I am not aware of any comparable book, and the various other good references that are available do not provide the coherent, balanced, and interlocked unit that this book does.

The book might be profitably read by those who mostly see themselves as supervisees instead of supervisors, but there might be better ways to develop the skills needed to be an excellent supervisee. Some of the chapters could stand alone as helpful reading for the student/supervisee, but I believe one of the book's strengths is its cohesion as a whole (especially after the first chapter completes the historical review).

This strength may also be a weakness, in that this book would not work well as a reference guide. I think it would be hard to look up an individual topic in this book and try to read that part out of the context of the whole book. After having read the book in its entirety once, it might be useful in that way, but this book would not work best as a practical problem-solving guide.

One final minor criticism before my concluding praise. The writing style by itself does not draw the reader in. This book would not appeal to someone with a casual interest. The case material goes far to keep the book flowing well, but the main discourse has a formal style that slows the reading down a little.

The Supervisory Encounter should continue to gain recognition as a major contribution. For anyone who does psychodynamic supervision, this book will organize what you knew intuitively and broaden your abilities as a supervisor.

Dr. Hutto is assistant professor and director, Psychotherapy Education Program, University of North Carolina, Department of Psychiatry.