On demoralization, therapist identity development, and persuasion and healing in psychotherapy supervision.

Abstract

Although anxiety is an expected part of beginning therapists' learning experience, supervisee demoralization has received far less attention comparatively. Yet demoralization can be a ready result of the training process. As students make the transition from classroom to clinic and become ever more embroiled in the potentially painful process of therapist identity development, they can start to increasingly question their fitness for therapeutic service. The supervision situation can easily and quickly become the prime outlet within which students' struggles with demoralization get enacted. But in what ways might that be so? And what can supervisors do to help their supervisees when demoralization arises? In what follows, I (a) examine demoralization as an inherent part of the therapist identity formation experience; (b) consider how psychotherapy supervision is in some ways a remoralization process; and (c) identify some avenues by which supervisors can instill hope during the unfolding of the early phase of the supervision endeavor.

The unsaid: In‐depth accounts of non‐disclosures in supervision from the trainees’ perspective

“…At times, such acts also appear to be motivated by self‐preservation. These observations are especially important because the literature generally alludes to the supervisor holding all the power in the supervisory relationship (Bernard & Goodyear, ; Watkins, ). Some research suggests that non‐disclosures occur because of power imbalances between supervisor and trainee (Hess et al., ; Quarto, ).…”

Supervision As Pedagogy: Attending to Its Essential Instructional and Learning Processes

“…Receiving either type of feedback elicits affect. Corrective feedback, for example, may elicit disappointment, demoralization, or even R. K. Goodyear 88 shame (see Watkins, 2012). These and other emotional reactions can affect not only supervisees' motivation, but also their ability to "hear" the feedback they are provided.…”

A qualitative study of supervisees’ internal representations of supervisors

“…Such IRs, then, do seem to reflect participants' developing internal focus (Ronnestad & Skovholt, 2003;Worthen & McNeill, 1996) and absorption of supervisors' guidance Geller et al, 2010;Laplanche & Pontalis, 1973;Romei, 2003), and also their experiencing of their supervisor as providing a safe holding environment (Bruss & Kopala, 1993;Ecklar-Hart, 1987;Friedman & Kaslow, 1986;Lampropoulos, 2002;Mollon, 1989;Watkins, 2012). Paralleling the findings yielded by the SRI (Geller et al, 2010), participants' IRs reflected supervisors' verbal presence; a presence that often arose when supervisees sought guidance during difficult clinical moments.…”

“…Supervision is thus integral in the development of counselors, and lies at the heart of training mental health professionals (Bernard & Goodyear, 2013;Campbell, 2006;Clark, 2005;Stoltenberg & Delworth, 1987). In fact, for novice therapists, supervision is a more salient influence on development than direct client experience (Ronnestad & Skovholt, 2003), and the provision of holding and containment in the face of supervisee demoralization is one mechanism through which supervision may exert its effects (Bruss & Kopala, 1993;Ecklar-Hart, 1987;Friedman & Kaslow, 1986;Lampropoulos, 2002;Mollon, 1989;Watkins, 2012).…”