Supervision as a Liminal Space: Towards a Dialogic Relationship

Abstract

This article explores the underlying power dynamics and themes in the relationship between the supervisor and supervisee and the challenges these pose for establishing clinical supervision as a dialogic relationship based in Gestalt therapy principles. Illustrated by two examples from a supervisee perspective, themes of 'shame' and the need to attend holistically to the supervisee in their work and personal contexts in the 'here and now' are explored. These examples are discussed in relation to principles of contact, figure and ground, and the polarity of isolation and confluence. Clinical supervisors have an obligation to ensure that the supervisee practises in a way that is 'safe' for the client, themselves and for their employing agencies or professional associations. Supervisors have a further obligation to remain in relationship with the supervisee, as they are engaged in these complex and challenging discussions. The more recent development in the discourse about clinical supervision is the relational emphasis which is discussed in Gestalt therapy (Clarkson & Aviram, 1995; Hycner, & Jacobs, 1995) and applications of concepts such as 'creative adjustment' to clinical supervision (Yontef, 1996). This view enables clinical supervision to be considered as occurring in a liminal space or 'creative void' where learning occurs based in who the supervisee is in the present. Such a view of clinical supervision honours the quality of process and the personhood of the supervisor and supervisee within the inevitable tensions.